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So I'm looking at the Samsung LN22A450, and I notice the aspect ratio is 16:10. Why is that? I know computer monitors often have that ratio, but why an HDTV? My parents would be getting this TV, and I don't want them to be confused as to why high def content still has black bars.

Hi all, I have a budget around $2000 and I'm looking for the best 52" LCD in this class. That's just a rough price point, because I know some of the major brands have models on sale around $2200 or so. Anyways, we're looking for 1080p, 120HZ. On the 120HZ, I know its value is debatable, so...

Hello, A friend is in the market for a device that can switch component video. The content will be high def 1080i stuff. Right now this seems to be the leading contender: Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more If anyone knows of a better...

Hi everyone, This store called Big Lots is having a YouTube contest, determined by votes, to give a school a new playground. I went to this school for a while in the 80's: Vote for your favorite School in Big Lots' Lots to Give Contest The chubby kid in the video is my second...

I have never done an ounce of research into anything that will let me talk on a cell phone hands free. I know absolutely nothing about them. I'm going on a solo car trip tomorrow and thought it might be nice to have one. So what's the deal? Is it all bluetooth, or are there still ones with...

Hello, It seems all you see on smaller LCD sets is 720p (or 768 lines or whatever), but the trend for larger TVs now seems to be 1080p. Will eventually everything be 1080p, or will smaller sets continue to be 720p? I don't want to buy one and then six months later find out I could have had...

So through basic research, it seems like stereo receivers that can decode DTS-Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD are still kinda new and expensive. On the Dolby page here: http://www.dolby.com/consumer/techno...HD_avrs_2.html It says : If your A/V receiver is equipped with 5.1 or 7.1 external...

Through random amazon browsing I saw a link to the Star Trek III soundtrack with a pricetag of $99.00: http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-III-...pd_sim_m_img_2 Is this disc really that rare?

Hello, I have an event coming up in a few weeks that I would like people on the web to be able to see. I have three requirements: 1. People can see and hear on their computers what's happening in the room 2. I need to be able to have a recording of the event for viewing at a later time...

Hi All, Just got a new PC from Dell and I've noticed a strange occurrence during DVD playback on my LCD monitor. Material that is 4:3 or 16:9 plays superbly. However, when I play 2.35:1 anamorphic movies, i get a very thin (maybe a few pixels) border around the entire movie. I find this...

To make way for the new VRD-MC3, Best Buy (B&M only, no website) has put the previous model, the VRD-MC1, on clearance for $69.99. A week ago they were charging $272.99!!! Here is the item: http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/DiscBurners/DVDirect Keep in mind this is not a traditional DVD...

Hello, Hopefully someone who's knowledgeable about the Jewish calendar can answer this question for me: Can you tell me what date on the Jewish calendar will correspond to this coming Sunday, the 27th of August, 2006? I think it's the year 5766, but I have no idea what month or day Sunday...

Hi all, I'm so out of the loop on HDTV I have to go back to the basics section. I'm trying to help my parents pick out an LCD HDTV. All of them seem to have the resolution of 1366x768 or some such number. Where in the world does 768 come from? I'd always thought that the standard displays...

Was reading this article about eating lunch at your desk: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...011000319.html I fit the bill. I would say 9 days out of ten I'm eating at my desk. Of course they mainly focus on the germs that can be found there, but I was disturbed by something else...

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...temail edlink Astounding!

Hi all, thought I'd use the forum for some personal vacation research. Some background: This past year, about a dozen friends and I rented a house for a week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. (http://www.carolinadesigns.com/cdfin...aster/270m.asp) It was like living in a Pottery Barn...

OK, I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and I'm sure there are a lot of people on the HTF who know about this sort of thing. At some point I'm going to have to stop throwing money into the rent hole and buy somewhere to live. What I'm wondering is, can I afford to do so? There...

I have a question after reading this article: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/04/arl....ap/index.html So someone can be arrested and tried twice for the same crime? I thought that was against the constitution? Or was it because a mistrial was declared the first time? On one hand, it's...

Hello, I'm in the market for a DVD recorder, mainly for dubbing old VHSes, but not entirely. The model I like the best doesn't have a built in VHS deck, and I see that many do. Do components that have the VHS deck built into the DVD recorder generally yield better results that those that...

Ok, it's been a while since we had a nice ridiculous lawsuit thread. I guess I'm just doing this to stir the pot, but I've been thinking about this for a few days now. (I'll elaborate below.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...062800834.html It all started a few days ago when I was...

http://www.mtbireland.com/dodge.html Been at it for about 20 mins, best I could do was 16.765 seconds. Don't let the blue boxes touch you, and don't touch the edge. edit: 20.764 seconds!!

OK, I own the digital video essentials DVD, and also came across a 2004 article that was published in Stereophile Guide to Home Theater managize discussing calibration. They both talk about turning up the contrast on the Pluge Pattern w/Grayscale until you see blooming in the whitest box...

Hello all, I'm helping a friend set up his new Yamaha HTIB. This is the subwoofer that came with it: http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/kbest/img1039920477.jpeg You'll notice that there is a hole on the right side of the unit, with the front having the Yamaha logo, and the contol panel...

Hi all, for work I'm putting together a pamphlet listing the names of our organization's members who died in the last year. It will be handed out at a memorial servie and given to attendees at our annual conference. I've been asked to include a little saying or proverb on the front cover...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/com...chhikers.shtml This press release came out last week, but it just hit my radar. (Not sure if this is the right forum -- it's a radio series, based on books based on a radio series, with a film of the same name coming out soon, with a different...

Ok, this question came to me in a dream last night. And yes, I have dreams like this all the time. So, when you peel a navel orange, you have that white rindy stuff that sticks to the sections, with some of it running down the middle. Of course, compared to the puply section of the orange, it...

Hello all, I am looking for the title and artist of a cover of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." I heard it the other day, but no one I knew could ID it. It's an upbeat version done on synthesizer a la Manheim Steamroller, but a google search didn't turn up anything by them under that...

An interesting take on the sport, thus making it a little different from the other mini-golf games out there: http://www.boberil.com/pandafgolf/ Not sure if there's an end, made it to level 20 and gave up. But the music is insidious!

Hello again all, A number of months ago, you fellow HTFers offered valuable insight into my first viewings of the Terminator films: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=150646 Now, the time has come for me to discover the Alien films. To start with, I'm just going to focus on...

Hello all, I'm running Windows XP, and whenever I connect to the Internet, my computer is set to check for Windows updates automatically. Well, a few days ago, one came down the pike, and I installed it. However, every day since then, when I connect, it says there's a new update to install...