VIZIO M260VA RazorLED 720p LCD HDTV Review
30 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in Television HDTV Tags: M260VA, VIZIO M260VA, VIZIO M260VA Lcd, VIZIO M260VA Lcd Hdtv, VIZIO M260VA Led, VIZIO M260VA RazorLED, VIZIO M260VA Review, VIZIO M260VA Reviews
The Vizio M260VA LCD TV brings you vivid, brighter and sharper pictures with consistent colour composition.
Its sleek razor thin design shows the alluring innovation and the latest LED display technology incorporated with digital ambient light sensor always delivers amazing pictures in the most efficient energy saving method.
Apart from these, its added connectivity options
also include five high definition inputs. This TV measures 25.4 in x 5.9 in x 17 in and weighs 13.2 lbs.
With 26 inch Widescreen display, you get the breath taking picture motion you have not experienced before. Its Edge Light LED technology turns even minute action to genuine appearance.
The LCD TV supports 1080p contents resulting in cutting edge pictures with resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The pixel response time of it is 5 ms and the colour depth in 24-bit.
With 20000:1 dynamic contrast ratio permitted, you get rich picture shades and view figures clearly even in dark areas of the picture. Further, its brightness is 400 cd/m2.
Other display features include colour temperature control, progressive scan, 3D digital comb filter, :2 or 2:2 Reverse Pull-down and ATSC with MPEG-2 decoding.
This Vizio LCD TV displays contents in 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Its view angle is 178 degrees, which gives real picture view even from side angles. The built-in digital tuner supports ATSC and QAM signals for better quality.
The audio system comprises left and right speakers producing total output of 6 watts. With SRS TruSurround HD effect you can experience theatre like movie entertainment in you room. Further, SRS TruVolume adjusts the volume automatically for consistent sound delivery.
Connections available in Vizio M260VA 26” LCD TV include 2 x HDMI input ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Rear, 1 x Antenna ( F connector ) – Rear, 1 x Component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) – Rear, 1 x Audio input ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear, 1 x USB ( 4 pin USB Type A ) – Side, 1 x SPDIF output ( TOSLINK ) – Rear, 1 x Headphones ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) – Rear, 1 x Composite video input ( RCA phono ) – Side. PC interface is also available.
Gateway FX6803-25 Desktop Review
29 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in Computer & Laptop Tags: FX6803-25, Gateway FX6803-25, Gateway FX6803-25 Desktop, Gateway FX6803-25 Review, Gateway FX6803-25 Reviews
Customer Reviews Gateway FX6803-25
I have searched for the computer (whether custom built or prebuilt) for 3 months. This one kept coming back to the top of the list again and again.
First, you need to know that Gateway and Acer are basically the same company, you find Acer all over the documentation from the box, to the documents to the computer itself.
If there was anything else I’d have wanted, it would be wireless connection – this does not have it, but there are many routers with USB hubs to server that purpose.
I agree with everyone, it is super quiet, occasionally when a drive cycles, you hear it, but otherwise you are pressed to know it is even on. I chose to turn off the Red accent lighting, I think it a little gimmicky.
My concerns over previous computers were many, I wanted something that HDMI connected to my HDTV without going through DVI’s etc.. I think the Blueray player a nice feature although I likely won’t use it except as a second drive which is always nice.
I watch a lot of TV shows streamed on the web (Hulu, Fancast, all the network stations) and wanted smooth frame rate – well I sure got it, as well as FLAWLESS 1080P content streaming on Youtube. Nothing ever appears below a 30 plus frame rate, so smooth is a mild word for the output.
On to gaming, I bought Crysis considering it is a benchmark on nearly any review site and at max res with EVERYTHING turned on, it is 100% a kickass experience.
I also am into video editing, a major factor in buying a machine – I bought Magix Movie Pro 16 and work at light speed with my Flip Cams 720p footage, I haven’t tried anything higher res, but I feel secure it will handle it equally as well.
At $1425 or so, I don’t think anything touches it. I customized a few computers online with the same specs. and every one came in around $1900 or more. A big plus is the 750 watt power supply, a lot of companies will give you the 1gig video card, but they don’t offer anything over 500 watts.
So, I’m doing everything that I want a computer to do, the I7 with 9gigs RAM flies, the multi-threading and everything just passes stuff around lightning fast. The 1.5 terra-drive should last most people a long long time and 10 USB ports comes in handy, no need for hubs to slow you down.
Oh, the SD card reader is the HCSD reader, so I have 16gig SD cards and use it to move about 14 movies around my different machines – handy.
You are not likely to find a better PC for your money, but it is performance is where we all draw the line and this machine delivers. To do it over again, I would and that is the ultimate compliment to any purchase.
Oh… NOTE: this computer comes in its original box, it is NOT packaged in a discrete box. UPS tried to deliver it, but since I was not home, they weren’t about to leave a box showing a monster gaming machine on the step. I drove the 10 miles to pick it up at UPS when the truck returned that night to their hub. So be there for it, or you may need to take a ride.
Mint 4200 Automatic Hard Floor Cleaner Reviews
28 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in Kitchen & Dining Tags: Floor Cleaner, Mint 4200, Mint 4200 review, Mint 4200 reviews
Customer Reviews Mint 4200
I must say, I’m impressed with the mapping system on this little guy. I have a very large (20′X20′) open living room/kitchen area giving plenty of obstacles to confuse it. There’s a staircase (which it deftly avoids), an island, a kitchen table with chairs, a couch and a number of tables for it to go under, an area rug and a piece of curved beveled glass on the floor that serves as a stand for a fireplace (which it surprisingly does not ride up on). Also, the room is overall “U” shaped with several entryways. This is the only robotic cleaner that has been able to figure this room out in its entirety. Other things to note is the room has a large fan and high, sloped ceilings and it can still find it’s way.
My Roomba did terribly. It would get stuck in one section, the Neato XV was OK but would miss some parts. This thing does a great job of freshening up the floor and getting at just about everything due to it’s small size!
One thing I did not know is the comes with wet and dry reusable cloths for cleaning. They are great! It does pick up a lot of stuff, even if your floors look clean it’s going to find something!
Wet pads are very good and stay damp for a longer amount time than I would have imagined. The floor is drier behind the mint than if I were mopping the floor myself!
I have found some things that confuse it. It doesn’t like heater vents too much, especially larger ones (like intake vents) because it thinks it is falling off of a ledge. It will eventually figure it out though. It will get stuck on vertical blinds, so you might want to block them with something and it might get stuck if it drives into an area that is very tight and it decides it can’t back out. After a few runs of finding what confuses it, it pretty easy to mint-proof a room. More
Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch Reviews
26 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in Electronic Tags: Forerunner 405CX, Forerunner 405CX Review, Forerunner 405CX Reviews, Garmin 405CX, Garmin Forerunner 405CX, GPS Sport Watch, Sport Watch
Miles ahead of the rest
I really did my homework in choosing a fitness watch with heart rate monitor. I ordered competing models from Garmin, Timex, Polar, and Suunto, to look them over closely and compare. Then I sent them all back but this one.
Someone pointed out that this Garmin watch is a little on the clunky side – that’s true. I have a small wrist,and the watch part of it is long and flat and doesn’t really fit nicely. But no matter – with the band strapped tight, it stays put, and it’s not so huge that people would say “What’s that thing on her wrist?” It still looks like a watch. A funky sort of a watch maybe, but not a television set or anything.
I think you need to decide if you want GPS or not. I decided that yes, I really wanted GPS to measure my distance, because I run and jog and hike and travel quite a bit, so my routes are always changing. In my ideal world, I’d be able to pop up a map on my PC and see my route, and have a table showing all my workouts and how many miles they total, in running, biking, etc. I could finally answer the folks at the running store when they ask how many miles are on my running shoes.
I ended up with this Garmin, far and away the best choice for just what I wanted. All the other GPS solutions were separate strap-on-the-arm ones that contain AAA batteries that need to be replaced every 12 hours of operation – ouch, costly. Even with rechargables, it would be a hassle to be always taking them out, plugging them into the charger, putting them back in the arm-band-GPS unit. The watch on those other devices was just a receiver for the arm-unit. Granted, it meant that their watches could be a little smaller … I really liked the design of the Timex the best, and the Polar was small too. But who wants to carry a clunky thing around their arm? That’s one more thing to pack or lose, more batteries to buy and fuss with, more parts to break… forget it.
I also was swayed heavily by the Garmin software and tight integration with the PC and mapping software. None of the other brands, as of this writing (January 2010) had anything near as easy. Polar excels at fitness tracking, but not the mapping part. Timex and others require third-party mapping solutions that you have to manually upload and integrate with. Only Garmin had a simple plug-and-play solution. Plug in their little included USB “ANT Stick” (like a little thumb drive), and bring the watch near, and it automatically receives the data the watch stored from your workouts, loads it into your Garmin fitness/mapping program, and you can see all your stats and your routes etc.
I also liked that this unit is one of the few that tracks altitude, so you know not only how many miles, but how much total up and down you went (cumulative). It can display the data on a chart with any paramets you set, for example you can see the actual altitudes of your run along your route. That is so cool!
Other people trashed this unit because the bezel-touch operation is a hassle. One guy made the point that he just locks the screen into a view before his run starts, so he doesn’t hassle with the touch thing going haywire. That is the perfect solution, and it’s what I did too.
So with this Garmin watch, you only have to remember two pieces: the watch, and the charger. The charger clips right onto the watch to rejuice the battery inside. It ships with conversion plugs for international outlets.
Here’s a tip that isn’t written anywhere: the GPS can be turned on or off. With the GPS on all the time, the watch will run out of juice after about 8 hours and will need to be recharged. With the GPS off, it lasts… I’m guessing at least a week (I haven’t let it go that far). It works like a normal watch, tells date and time, etc. Heart rate monitor. Etc.
I was worried that this watch wouldn’t work if you, say, went out in the morning for a hike, stopped for lunch, continued hiking… 8 hours wouldn’t be enough. The simple solution is to turn off GPS when you don’t need it, and your battery will last as long as you need it.
So, if you can afford it, this one is the only way to go, if you want GPS. I’ve had it a month, after handling all the others, reading their manuals, etc., and settling on this one. I’m super happy with it and love Garmin. Next generation will be even better, when they fix the bezel issue and get the watch to be even more watch-looking, but this is miles ahead of the competition as is.
More : Forerunner 310XT | Forerunner 405CX | Forerunner 405
Garmin nüvi 1450 GPS Navigator Review
26 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in GPS Navigator Tags: Garmin 1450, Garmin nüvi 1450, Garmin nüvi 1450 Review, Garmin nüvi 1450 reviews, Garmin nüvi 1450 sale, nüvi 1450
Design
Close your eyes, think of a Garmin Nuvi 1350 and scale it up to fit a 5-inch touchscreen and — bam! — you’ve got the Garmin Nuvi 1450T. There’s a rubberised back that feels great and a simple, compact windscreen mount that sticks firmly. Although the plastic silver screen bezel is a bit too obviously faux metal, it does inject a bit of visual interest into the otherwise generic Garmin shape.
At 16mm thick the 1450T is catwalk thin, but the unit’s 5-inch screen means that it gobbles up real estate like Cookie Monster chomps on you-know-whats and on smaller cars, or ones with shallow windscreens, this may present a slight safety hazard. On the upside, destination entry is a breeze thanks to the large keys on the virtual keyboard. The menus and their friendly icons will be familiar to anyone who has ever used a Garmin GPS before.
Instructions are easy to read at a glance, with turn instructions posted prominently in the left-hand corner. Lane guidance is available for most multi-lane roads and there’s full-screen junction view graphics, complete with real-world photos, for motorway exits. The map screen is clear, but Garmin insists on hiding non-major roads by default, which can make it seem like you’re driving through the countryside even when you’re traversing the inner city.
Performance
Routes generated by the 1450T often favour clogged main roads and sometimes confound well-versed locals with their counter-intuitiveness. The 1450T comes preloaded with the latest Whereis maps and while these prove to be more reliable in the inner city (especially with turn restrictions) and in the bush than Navteq’s offering, it’s still likely to lead you to the wrong part of the street as street numbering is nowhere close to being 100 per cent accurate.
A lifetime Suna traffic messaging subscription is included and this allows the 1450T to display traffic incidents, like planned roadworks, special events, jams and accidents, either via a coloured overlay on a black-and-white version of the normal map, as an easily digestible list or as a series of possible delays on your route. As we’ve mentioned before, the traffic messaging alerts are handy as a guide, but we would often run into delays that had yet to turn up in the system or ones that had already cleared.
If you happen to enter a tunnel, there’s no dead reckoning to make up for the lack of GPS satellite reception nor are there any instructions, so if there’s a particular tunnel exit that needs to be taken, good luck. Positioning accuracy is good in the suburbs, but the unit can lose track of satellites in the CBD leading to either incorrect positioning or complete signal drop out, which is normal.
Other features
Red light and speed camera locations are hailed by a warning chime and a signposted icon on the map. Though this is better than the indecipherable flashing icons used by some other makers, the text could do with being a bit larger, even on the 5-inch screen. School zone locations need to be installed manually — check out our guide to find out how.
Text-to-speech works well enough, but it does mangle some Australian street names to comic effect. We do wish that the company would remove the “recalculating route” message from its GPS units, although thanks to Garmin’s free Voice Studio software, these can be edited out — if you’re willing to go without text-to-speech, that is.
Those wanting Bluetooth hands-free will have to step up to the more expensive Nuvi 1490T. Likewise, MP3 playback and an FM transmitter are also absent from the 1450T’s feature list.
Conclusion
Impressively thin, the Garmin Nuvi 1450T doesn’t do much that excites us, but it’s a solid and easy-to-use GPS with a huge 5-inch screen.
More : Garmin 1390LMT | Garmin 2350LMT | Garmin 2300LM | Garmin 2370LT | Garmin 1450LM | Garmin 1450LMT
Westinghouse LD-3255VX Review
24 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in Television HDTV Tags: LD-3255VX, Westinghouse, Westinghouse LD-3255VX, Westinghouse LD-3255VX Review, Westinghouse LD-3255VX reviews
After researching the purchase of 2 LCD TV’s for my kids, I was shopping around and discovered this Westinghouse. I actually didn’t think it would be a serious TV, as it was less money that comparable LCD TV’s sitting on either side of it on the stores shelf. All were on, and set to the same channel. So comparisons were easy! I was prepared to hate the Westinghouse, thinking is was in the same class as some of the “no name” brand sets..junk! After all it was less than $400.00!
But when we were getting ready to pick up the boxes of Phillips TV’s and put them in the cart to take home, we started reading the box thatthe Westinghouse was in. Did my eyes deceive me? Did it really say LED on it! No way. We walked over the the high end and expensive LCD TV’s. and the 32″ ones that said LED were $700.00 plus! Samsungs, Vizio, Panasonics, etc.
First of all, an explanation for the “electronically challenged among us..like me! A regular LCD TV uses fluorescent edge lighting to shine thru the LCDs to make the picture viewable. Good enough!
Then there are newer technology LCD TV’s with LED edge lighting…LED’s all the way around the screen shine thru and illuminate the TV screen. Saves energy because LEDs use a small fraction of the energy as the fluorescent lights. Better but the black and darker colors are not as “black”, and colors a bit washed out.
BUT…the Westinghouse LED back lit LCD’s have black blacks! Deeper color, brighter, vibrant colors (wait till you see the yellows!). And way less energy, about the same as a 40 watt light bulb. And the TV is slim..I mean slim!
1″ thick and 14 1/2 lbs!
Terrific featurers, nice price, outstanding technology for way less than others, all the featurers..great value over all! And I can’t even begin to tout the picture quality except to say you have got to see it yourself!
Garmin nüvi 2360LMT Review
24 Sep 2010 Comments Off
in GPS Navigator Tags: cheap Garmin 2360LMT, Garmin 2360LMT, Garmin 2360LMT review, Garmin 2360LMT reviews, Garmin GPS Navigator, Garmin nüvi 2360LMT, Garmin nüvi 2360LMT GPS Navigator, Garmin nüvi 2360LMT sale, nüvi 2360LMT
The voice-activated widescreen nüvi 2360LMT comes with free lifetime traffic and maps for the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It has a dual-orientation screen that displays vertically or horizontally, a 3-axis electronic compass and 3-D building and terrain view. The 2360LMT includes hands-free calling, lane assist with junction view*, trafficTrends historical traffic, myTrends predictive routing, and ecoRoute. Pedestrian capabilities can be enhanced with optional cityXplorer maps for mass transit information.
 View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Click to enlarge. |
Speak Commands
nüvi 2360LMT not only tells you where to turn but listens to your spoken commands. With its innovative speech recognition, you can control nüvi with your voice–allowing you to keep both hands on the wheel. Simply wake up nüvi with a customizable voice command and begin speaking menu options that are clearly displayed on the screen. Tell nüvi “Find Address” and speak an address to start navigating.
Experience nüRoute Technology with trafficTrends and myTrends
nüvi 2360LMT includes nüRoute technology with trafficTrends historical traffic and myTrends predictive routing. With trafficTrends, your nüvi 2360LMT automatically learns daytime trends for traffic flow to improve your routes and better predict your estimated time of arrival based on time of day and day of week. With myTrends, when you save your regular destinations in your “Favorites,” your nüvi 2360LMT will, over time, begin to figure out where you’re going even without your telling it! It provides time of arrival and relevant traffic information. So whether you’re driving to and from work or a regularly scheduled weekly event, your nüvi 2360LMT will help you get there on time. No subscription or additional cost required.
Includes Free Lifetime Map and Traffic Updates
With free Lifetime Map** and Traffic*** updates, you always have the most up-to-date maps, points of interest and navigation information available at your fingertips. Traffic information is updated constantly, and map updates are available for download up to 4 times a year. Both features are ready to go, right out of the box, with no subscription or update fees and no expiration dates.
Make Hands-free Calls
For hands-free calling, nüvi 2360LMT integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker. Just pair it with your compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free through the 2360LMT while staying focused on the road. Simply dial numbers with its touchscreen keypad to make a call. To answer calls, just tap the screen and speak into its built-in microphone. Enjoy convenient one-touch dialing for contacts and points of interest.
 Get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. |
 nüvi calculates your position faster to get you there quicker. |
Know the Lane Before It’s Too Late
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist with junction view guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation.
Select Fuel-efficient Routes
nüvi 2360LMT saves you gas and money with ecoRoute–a green feature that calculates a more fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more. With ecoRoute, you have a “less fuel” option as a routing preference. When selected, nüvi will determine if a more fuel efficient route exists based upon road speed data and vehicle acceleration data for a given route.
Navigate City Transit
With its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 2360LMT is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. It’s dual-orientation display and compass help you navigate on foot. Download optional cityXplorer content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation and how long it will take to get there. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you’ll have money left over to spend in the big city.
See More
With nüvi 2360LMT’s widescreen display, you’ll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3″ (10.92 cm) display is easy to read–from any direction.
Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
nüvi 2360LMT has an intuitive interface that greets you with two simple questions: “Where To?” and “View Map.” Touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigator NT street maps for the U.S, Canada and Mexico with nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs) such as stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, gas stations, ATMs and more, and speed limits for most major roads. With 3-D Building and Terrain view, you’ll see representations of prominent buildings in many cities and map contours at low zoom levels, giving you a realistic perspective of the terrain.
Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. The 2360LMT includes many travel tools, including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. With photo navigation, you can download pictures from Garmin Connect Photos and navigate to them. With its “Where Am I?” emergency locator, you always know your location. Simply tap the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. The 2360LMT features Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with our free Garmin Garage where you can download custom custom voices and vehicles. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in microSD cards.
*Not available at all intersections/interchanges in all areas.
** Free Lifetime Map Updates entitle you to receive up to 4 map data updates per year, when and as such updates are made available on the Garmin website, for this specific Garmin product only until this product’s useful life expires or Garmin no longer receives map data from its third party supplier, whichever is shorter. The updates you receive will be updates to the same geographic map data originally included with your Garmin product when originally purchased. Garmin may terminate your Lifetime Map Updates at any time if you violate any of the terms of the End User License Agreement accompanying your nüvi product.
***Lifetime traffic extends for the useful life of your Garmin traffic receiver (as long as you own a compatible Garmin GPS) or as long as Garmin receives traffic data from its traffic supplier, whichever is shorter. Traffic content not available for all areas. See www.navteq.com/rdstraffic for traffic coverage areas and www.garmin.com/traffic/fm/navteq.html for program License Agreement containing complete terms and conditions.
More : Garmin 1300LM | Garmin 1350LMT | Garmin 3750 | Garmin 2360LMT | Garmin 2360LT
