len_mullen

My first thought is that you'd have to stand in line a long time to get one. I guess it is this one, but I did not see any in the store. Emerson's product page is here. They do not advertise brightness or contrast -- which may mean they are not proud of the numbers. 5w/channel is not very powerful for the speakers. The warranty is 90days/1 yr, so that might be a concern/warning. On the other hand, this review is pretty positive. There's no vga in if that matters to you.

Yeah, you're wrong. Not only can you stream netflix, you can stream media off PCs in your house that run a free PS3 media server. You can also watch online programming like hulu using a $30 program called playon (SDTV only for now). If you're buying a console for your kids, find out what their friends are playing -- part of the fun is talking about the games you are enjoying and competing against your buds. If this is not an issue, look at the exclusive games. The WII has a lot of arcade games and get up and move games that appeal to youngsters whereas the other two appeal more to us couch potatoes who mostly want to shoot something. If the exclusives don't sway you, the PS3 excels as an entertainment hub -- blu-ray, streaming media. The x-box can stream netflix too, but you have to pay a monthly fee to microsoft in addition to the fee paid to netflix. The WII is SD only, so it's not as good in this regard. We've had a PS3 for more than a year and have no regrets.

I spent a little time yesterday looking at 32" lcd TVs. Reason I was looking was that I have already bought a pair of VO320Es ($325 at Sears after Discover cash back) and wanted to make sure I didn't make a mistake. I didn't. In fact, I thought all of the 32" sets at Walmart looked pretty great -- even the Element tv. The Emerson that will be offered on BF was not on display. I also bought a couple DYNEX DX-32L130A10 sets. Dynex is Best Buy brand supposed made by LG. This is one of three 32" Dynex sets, but is brighter and a little bigger than the other two. These are highly regarded by six people, but I could find no expert reviews. If they look good, this is a steal. The sets are $300. Using ShopDiscover, I get 12% back, so the final price will be $264. I will also get $3 back in Best Buy rewards. You can get a four year warranty for $50, so, if the sets are comparable, I can get the Dynex with four years protection for less than the cost of the Vizio. I'll get close to the Dynex Monday when I pick mine up and let you know what I think of the set. I've had a 26" Dynex set for a year and we have been very happy with that.

I think the easiest way to do this would be to get a wireless switch/router to connect your wireless laptop and your desktop and use remote desktop to remotely control your desktop from the laptop. Downside is that the desktop would not be available while you were using the laptop online. If your dialup does not require a proprietary dialer software (call AOL tech support to find out if this is supported), you could use a wireless switch/router with dialup backup to share a dialup connection with all your PCs. There are uncommon since wireless and dialup are not generally used in the same sentence, but here is one. Nice thing about this investment is that it will support a future broadband connection. Honestly, you should investigate your broadband options since you are probably paying almost as much for dialup.

Requirements for Photoshop CS4... •1.8GHz or faster processor •Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista) •512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) •1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices) •1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card •Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0 •DVD-ROM drive •QuickTime 7.2 software required for multimedia features •Broadband Internet connection required for online services* The web site says windows 7 is supported for the current version and that earlier versions should work with windows 7. I don't think any of the BF desktops fall short of these requirements.

I have been using the Acer branded version of this emachine since May, I think. It came with Vista, but I installed the Windows 7 rc on it. I like it a lot. It is fine for netflix, flash, DVDs and Sims 3. How can you go wrong for $200?

$130 for this panny plus you get a $30 amazon ondemand credit.

Lowe's Werner Aluminum Portable Work Platform $22.00 Samsung 30-Inch, 1.5 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Microwave (Color: White) $99.99 RadioShack DualShock Wireless Controller for PlayStation3 $29.99 Pinnacle PCTV USB HDTV Tuner $39.99 Staples eMachines 21.5" Wide-Screen Monitor $89.98 Staples 50/Pack DVD+R or DVD-R $8 MIR $4.98 Sony 100/Pack DVD+R or DVD-R $24.98 Seagate 1TB External Desktop Hard Drive $69.99 Panasonic KX-TG9333T DECT 6.0 $49.99 HP 16GB USB Drive (V125w) $29.99 Buy a 20-pack of Duracell Batteries get 100% back in Staples Rewards ($12.99) Walgreens Snuggie Fleece Blanket $9.99 total: $492.86

Reliability is brand/model related. That's not a myth. Look here. At least as important is what happens when your tv fails. Check out this article on product support. One of the reasons I shop Sears, Walmart, and Best Buy are because I trust them to help if things go wrong. Looks like Circuit City bought TVs without warrantys and left their customers in the cold when they folded.

Already $149 at Amazon w/free shipping.

I think a PS3 would be a great player if you are in a position to spend $250. It will play netflix and games, and pull updates and email from the internet. For a little less money, you could get a highly rated panasonic upconverting dvd player (for your stadard DVDs) with an internet connection so you can watch netflix. The ethernet is wired, but that's what you want anyway.

It doesn't really matter. Buy the set and store it away unopened with the receipt. If something better comes along, return the set. I'm not sure you will find a cheaper 32" set, but you may find one you like better for the same or a little more money.

This tv is on sale right now at sears for $349.99. Use your Discover card to get 5% cashback (start at the shop discover Sears link) PLUS 2% cashback (free sign up for 2% CashBack on any online shopping) for a final price of $325.50. Lots of favorable reviews at dell.com and walmart.com. There may be better prices on BF, but this is a great set with no lines and no hassles. This, btw, is the same price as the Sears BF ad (not a door buster). Happy shopping...len!

Some claim that W! will have a lot of TVs (2x32" TVs, 19" TV, 40" TV, 42" TV, 46" TV ). At this point, I am leaning towards sleeping in and shopping online. Discover has doubled their BB cashback to 10% (shop discover) and is giving 2% back on retail purchases. BB services what they sell and is good about price adjustments. We've had a Dynex 26" set for a year now and have no complaints. If W! has a good ad, it will be the only one and lines will be unbearable and lining up at product placements is not going to be fun.

hz stands for hertz and that's the name of the guy who did a lot of work on electromagnetism. Hertz means cycle and a 60hz tv refreshes the screen 60 times per second. A 120hz tv refreshes 120 times per second. Problem is that tv is 30hz and movies are 24hz, so 60hz sets are simply showing the same information twice and 120hz sets are showing the same information four times...in theory. In reality, the faster sets cache two frames and create frames in between the two so that it appears that more frames are being shown and the motion seems smoother. Exactly how well each manufacturer pulls this off is what determines the price and quality of a set. It is entirely likely to see motion blur on a 120hz set and not see it on a 60hz set. AND the algorithms used to interpolate the frames may work better on one kind of programming (sports) than another. For this reason, you should use your eyes to judge a set playing any kinds of programming you are going to watch when you get the set home (movies and sports especially).

This tv is on sale at sams club for $339 right now.

Ad scans full of cheer Black Friday is almost here Lines are all we fear

I was in the store yesterday and they were promoting a 15% discount for new accounts.

I love Kohls, but not on BF. I can get better deals online with the monthly 30% and free shipping codes. Kohls Cash is a great promotion for the store since they get you in the store at a specific period (ie., they can control the prices for the duration of your KC), but it's not as good for me.

Most fights can be avoided if people go to a local retailer and LOOK at televisions. Stand in front of a wall of TVs and you will quickly decide what looks best to you. If you watch tv from three feet away, stand that close. If your couch is ten feet away, back up a bit. My eyes can distinguish between plasma and LCD at thirty feet -- as I walk up to the tv section from the side, it's easy to distinguish the LCDs because their color is washed out while the plasmas are still vibrant. This matters to me because we have a wide living room and people routinely sit at wide angles to the set. From the front, it's getting more difficult to tell except that the LCDs that look like plasmas (especially when viewing sports) have much higher price tags. I can distinguish between 1080p and 720p on a 50" set when I am about six feet away -- with my glasses on. Even then, that's all I'm doing -- distinguishing. The 720p still looks great. I can just tell the sets look different. As I walk closer, I can see that it looks better, and if I pause the picture, I can see the greater detail on the 1080p...but that's not how I watch tv, so that's not how I shop for TVs. If I were buying a fifty inch set today, I'd still be shopping for a 720p Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, or Kuro. I'd still decide the Sony and Pioneer sets were too expensive. I'd still settle for a Samsung or Panasonic -- which ever set was less expensive. It's helpful to do research to narrow the field, but, in the end, it is your eyes and ears that enjoy TV. Decide for yourself how little TV will make you happy and don't worry about the experts.

Hardly worth $0.02, conway. You can easily see from this chart that the maker of the chip does not determine performance. AMD Athlon II Dual-Core M300 1320 237 Pentium Dual-Core T4300 @ 2.10GHz 1299 244 2.20GHz 745 410 (officemax bf laptop) Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20GHz 745 410 AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core L310 658 429 AMD Athlon TF-20 389 580 Comparing the Athlon II to other CPUs in this thread, it is SMOKIN! And, in fact, if you are most interested in performance, I think it is the best laptop discussed to date. Personally, I'm a bit smitten with the AS1410 as I type this. Looks like its passmark cpu is 750.

DS is hoping Santa leaves a laptop under the tree. We hit the road today to shop -- look and touch, not buy. First thing we noticed was that almost netbooks were xp. A couple had 7 Starter, one had Vista and one had 7 home premium. The one that had 7hp caught his eye. It was an Acer AS1410 -- kind of a tweener. The specs were notebook except a smaller screen and no optical drive. People shying away from the netbook form factor due to anemic specs may want to take a look.

First, it would help if you listed the kind of school work she would be doing -- it takes a lot more computer to edit images and especially video than to edit a term paper and some engineering applications can be pretty demanding. Assuming your daughter is editing term papers, any computer mentioned would get the job done. You mention lightweight and decent battery life without numbers. I think <10# and 2-3 hours are reasonable. What do you think? I ask because you would be hard pressed to find a $300 laptop that didn't meet these specs. As for DVD playback, I think that is a given too. I can only comment on the acer 5516 that sits on my desk. The tf-20 and Ati x1200 play DVDs flawlessly. Netflix too. I would guess that other entry level laptops wold fare at least as well, but I'd be interested to hear from others regarding DVD playback. With so many laptops, so many new chipsets, and so many new CPUs, it might be useful to post a sticky at the top of the thread summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of each.

get up early tomorrow and get the hp. you won't be disappointed.

BPR, don't get too hung up on core count. It turns out WHICH core is more important that how many. If you look at this chart, you will find dual core cpus above and below the Celeron 900. Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20GHz 745 410 AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core L310 658 429 AMD Athlon TF-20 389 580 The Celeron 900 is ~10% FASTER than the dual core L310. Both are much faster than the tf-20 I use everyday. If you want to knock this laptop, the video chip is probably the place to nibble. Or maybe the smallish disk. I think it's fine and may buy two Saturday.