I have been a DirecTV customer since 1997, shortly after they rolled out the service, and have remained loyal and dealt with many of their growing pains. I recently decided to drop DirecTV after 15 years for several reasons.
Post Tagged with: "High-definition television"
ATEN VS481A 4-port HDMI Switch Review
We have reviewed ATEN products before, as they make great KVM switches. The last one we reviewed was geared towards the PC gamer and included DMI and audio switching. Anyone who has been around home theater for the past twenty years has seen the industry change the video cables from RF cables, RCA, S-Video, component [...]
3D TV is Coming
Listening to Lenny Lipton tiptoe through the history of 3D content production and viewing technology, he almost convinced you that 3D TV is finally just around the corner. Oh sure, the internationally renowned author and inventor acknowledged that there were still a few obstacles to overcome – like standards — but after more than 40 [...]
2008 Holiday ANTI-Shopping Guide: 15 Products to AVOID!
Every winter we have to think about what to get our loved (and not-so-loved) ones. There are tons of vendors that try to cash in on our buying frenzy by offering a bunch of stuff that we simply don’t want or need. Since we don’t need it, I guess we assume that other people do. Most [...]
TV Viewing Without the TV Set
Our son has it tougher than we did growing up. Oh sure he’s got his content wherever, whenever he wants. But we had power. We had juice! We had the first color TV in the neighborhood. The best looking gals wanted to be seen with us. The meanest dudes on campus protected us. Our son? All [...]
Pinnacle PCTV HD Mini Review
Ever taken that road trip with the family to that little no-name town to visit that strange smelling relative you barely remember? Ten years ago, it would have been barely tolerable even with your Discman. Five years ago it would have been a little more tolerable because you can fit more music on an iPod [...]
Pinnacle MovieBox Review
In the world of independent film makers, there are several different paintbrushes to be used before your masterpiece is complete. The hard drive or film that goes in your camera has to be of the highest quality, the camera needs to have optimal performance with a quality lens, and when you are editing your video [...]
Dazzle DVD Recorder Review
It seems that today’s market is all about data transfer or data conversion. Portable storage and the ability to free yourself of those old bulky analog contraptions that are still sitting in your closet behind all the cobwebs… right next to that old skull you found in the ground when they were digging the foundation [...]
Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick Review
Recently I was handed a Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick to use on my new Dell Desktop. At first glance, I was amazed that you can tune HDTV signals with a USB device that was so small. The Pinnacle HDTV Pro Stick comes with the following items in the package: If you have a laptop, then [...]
Ready or Not, HDTV is Mandatory!
HDTV is a big entertainment train coming at the consumer 100 MPH. In the US it took a bunch of years to transition viewing from B&W to color. Now the government has said everything/everyone will go from SD to HD in less than three years and that finish line is next February. Networks and stations [...]
AutumnWave OnAir GT HDTV Receiver Review
The world is changing. Over-the-air HDTV broadcasting is coming at you like a freight train, so you’ll be able to tune in to digital TV no matter where you travel in the US (read about the mandatory HDTV deadline here). Many people bring several portable devices with them to keep themselves entertained (usually when they would otherwise [...]
HDTV for Under $100
When the kids went to college we were “a little shy” on two key items: room in each of their apartments for a big LCD HD TV set enough money to pay for two sets along with new computers, new furniture, new nearly everything Up until the holidays this was okay because they were busy [...]
Cyberlink DVD Suite 6 Ultra Review
With Toshiba finally leaving the next generation DVD battlefield and moving on to more profitable ventures such as solid state and hard drive storage, we can safely purchase a new computer with a blu-ray disc (BD) burner/player. The challenge though comes in finding software that will provide superior BD high definition playback as well as [...]
Raiders of the Blu Ark
Some called it a battle. Others a war. But the blue laser thing was more like a tussle…a two year tussle. HD DVD had Toshiba, the DVD Forum (that sure helped DVD-RAM?) and a few studios that were kinda, maybe, sorta on their side. Oh yeah…and Microsoft.BD had Sony and its string of content owners, Panasonic, [...]
2008 Means Storage
2007 was a rocking year…sure it was your content, your stuff anytime, everytime, everywhere. 2008 is going to be the year you buy things to store all that stuff…See what we are pretty darned sure the year holds for the consumer…Use it as you want, use it as you will The fun of analyzing the [...]
Pinnacle’s Home Video Stuff at CES 2008
Personal and personalized video content is not only more precious to people, it is quickly becoming the entertainment of choice as consumers buy and use lower-cost, high-performance camcorders; video-enabled cameras; web downloads and video-to-go personal media players (PMPs). To put the fun back into video production and content distribution/sharing, Pinnacle Systems continues to expand the [...]
Top 7 Tech Turkeys of 2007
For many Americans, Thanksgiving is about turkey, football, lounging around the house, and dealing with people we’d rather not see but once a year. But it’s still all about the turkey, which reminds us of some of the real Turkeys we’ve seen in the technology and gaming industry. You know what a Turkey is. You’re [...]
Never Enough Storage for Media Center
I, like many Home Theater PC owners, simply don’t have enough storage. Even though Terabyte hard drives are available (and somewhat affordable), I still don’t have enough. I have a dedicated seperate drive for music, one for Recorded TV, another one for movies, another for photos, and another for High-Definition content… and that’s just ONE [...]
Pinnacle PCTV HD PCI Capture Card
If you use a Home Theater PC, then you’re no doubt familiar with the many PVR and HDTV cards available. Although Windows Media Center supports 2 PVR cards plus an over-the-air HDTV card, it would be nice if there were a single card that integrated all of these technologies into a single card. Pinnacle has [...]
Convert Your VHS to DVD
Remember the holidays from three…five…ten years ago? Birthdays? Family outings? The great times you had with your parents, grandparents or great grandparents? Aren’t you glad you captured all of those special, precious moments on videotape? You’ve got dozens of taped memories stacked in a cabinet or tucked away on a shelf in closet. Disappearing Past The problem is consumer [...]
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