New Home and Old Electronics: Not a Good Mix

You're upgrading your living quarters, now it's time to upgrade your home electronics. To figure out the best way to accomplish that, go to ConsumerGuide.com for shopping advice and product reviews.

You've spruced up your new house for the housewarming party, and you are showing your friends your new digs. Everything looks just great. Then you turn on your old 19-inch black-and-white television to tune in the game for some of your guests, and pop your jazz cassette into your boombox for your other guests. You finally realize you need new electronics! Turn to ConsumerGuide.com for help. Find great shopping information or free product reviews from the experts at ConsumerGuide.com.

Televisions While you're shopping for appliances, if you don't have a television already (or you're thinking of upgrading), your choices for your home theater can be a bit overwhelming. The obvious criteria to keep in mind are picture quality, brightness, contrast, detail, and lack of signal or video noise. We then combine good sound, a user-friendly remote, and connection options appropriate to your level of use.

Your 32-inch direct-view set can be had for under $500, and projection sets now start under $1,200. A 27-inch set, which was considered the start of large-screen sizes at one time, easily runs under $300 these days. Needless to say, 25-inch sets can be found for much cheaper.

The trend in the last few years has been toward flatter, squarer screens in direct-view sets. These screens have more viewing area, less distortion, and less reflection. It has helped make screen measurements more honest, not to mention the improvement such screens provide both in picture appearance and overall quality.

Widescreen (also known as 16:9) is the direction many manufacturers are heading. Some, like Sharp, make nothing but widescreen digital TVs. The full-scale transition to widescreen is still a number of years away, and the high price, along with limited availability of content, remains a hindrance to their sales. All HDTV sets are by industry definition 16:9, which means you get to watch movies the way you would see them in the theater.

However, watching a widescreen movie or program on a 27-inch or even 32-inch set is not going to be in the same league with seeing it on a 50-inch or 60-inch TV. Projection TVs have become one of the best-selling segments in color TVs, and with good reason: Big pictures make for a more involved viewing. There are several types of projection TVs, including the traditional (and rather cumbersome) three-tube systems and, more recently, LCD versions which eliminate the need for tubes and make for a more compact, lighter weight set.

Along with all sorts of cutting-edge display technologies, sound has taken on added meaning in today's TVs. Stereo sound--including newer digital forms of surround sound--makes an astounding and vast difference in the overall viewing experience. Anyone who has heard a good pair of speakers in a small TV or a complete surround sound system attached to a big-screen set can attest to this. The ultimate TV sound to be found is 5.1 Dolby Digital, which happens to be the format used in DVD. However, big sound can also be overwhelming (and expensive), so do not overlook the quality of sound that can be had from a simple two-speaker system built into a TV--especially where simulated surround sound is employed

Here are some helpful links:

Television Buying Guides

Television Reviews

Standard-Tube Television Reviews

Flat Panel Television Reviews

HDTV Reviews

Digital Playback and Recording

DVD players range in price from $100 (or less) for a basic, no-frills player from a lesser-known manufacturer, to more than $1,000 for a top-of-the-line home theater-ready player. But you don't have to break the bank to get high-end features. $100 players usually offer high-speed forward and reverse scanning, digital audio and video outputs, and the ability to play multiple disc formats. In the $200 to $400 range, you'll find players that offer progressive scan (for HDTV compatibility), 5.1 channel stereo outputs, built-in Dolby Digital decoders, and top-quality audio and video processors. In the $1,000-and-over range, you're getting all the above, plus the best hardware and design available, as well as things like a copper-shielded chassis to protect the device from all the other equipment in your home theater rack.

As of right now, DVD technology is pretty much set. Manufacturers keep bringing out new models each year, but the basic hardware stays essentially the same. What you get instead is lower prices, compatibility with new formats, innovative design, smaller size, and sleeker models. In addition to playing DVD movies, most DVD players can play CDs, MP3-encoded CD-Rs and CD-RWs, and video CDs. For those who care more about their budgets than about being on the leading edge of new technology, there is a great opportunity here: You may be able to get an excellent deal on soon-to-be discontinued models that have all the features you want without the premium on newness.

The other home entertainment products that were once so simple have grown to include many new and innovative options, many of which involve your home computer. The most high-tech items for your home are the ones that integrate the features of your computer with your television and DVD players, bringing the files you share electronically into your living room. For example, the once-unique TiVo has increased its options in a growing market. TiVo can be replaced by other Digital Video Recorders (DVR's) with DVD recorders inside, TiVo Series 2 models are now digital media servers, and some satellite cable companies will give you their own DVR for a nominal fee.

The digital satellite TV business, which is also known as Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), has made major inroads in both suburban and rural markets, even in some urban markets. This is due to the diminutive size of the antenna, which can be placed just about anywhere as long as the location has southern exposure with no trees to obscure the line of sight to the satellite.

Here are some helpful links:

DVD Players Buying Guides

DVR Systems Buying Guides

DVD Players Reviews

DVR Systems Reviews

Home Audio

Until a few years ago, most people bought two-channel stereo systems. Now most people purchase multichannel home theater systems. Current-mode home theater systems include an A/V receiver with five channels of amplification (connected to five speakers and a powered subwoofer), a multichannel encoded video source, and conventional two-channel sources (such as a CD or tape player). Dolby Pro Logic has been replaced with Dolby Pro Logic II, which provides more accurate surround separation and a better frequency response.

If you're sure that you'll never use a system for home theater, you can concentrate your budget on two expensive stereo speakers rather than five moderately priced home theater speakers. However, premium two-channel receivers are a vanishing breed.

Buying separate components instead of a prepackaged or all-in-one system lets you upgrade your equipment at any time without discarding the entire system. This is particularly important now, as you might want to update to new technologies as they arrive. If you can't afford all the components you want, or the quality of components you desire, begin with a good stereo or multi-channel receiver, a pair of speakers that offer optional matching center and surrounds, and a budget CD or DVD player.

Don't fall for the audiophile cable craze and spend hundreds of dollars for wires. Generic brand 14- or 12-gauge speaker wire will work just as well as name brand speaker wire for less than 50 cents a foot. The lower the gauge number, the thicker the cable, the better the sound. A final buying tip: a surge protector is an essential factor in the longevity of your home theater system.

Here are some helpful links:

Home Audio Components Buying Guides

Home Audio Components Reviews