EDTV Lovers, Here’s Your Next TV
JR.com is offering a Soyo 32-inch LCD EDTV for only $449.99. This is probably the best television on the market for playing Nintendo Wii or Sega Dreamcast games. It features HDMI, VGA, Component, S-Video, and Composite video inputs. As much as I’d like to buy one… it’s just too pricey. For under $400, you can [...]
Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR: It Just Works
I had my concerns about the Hauppauge 1212 HD PVR. First, it lost Media Center support (thanks to Microsoft gutting H.264 from TV Pack 2008 at the last minute). Then, it got delayed… a lot. But, when it comes to capturing HD video, there aren’t a lot of choices out there. A few FireWire boxes touted component [...]
My TiVo HD is Confused
Long story short, I moved. Went through guided setup. Told it to go from CableCARD to OTA-only mode (I’m having the installer out later this month). Now, my TiVo is trying to record shows using the OTA map in my old area. Even when I chose the channel in my new area, and select the [...]
Sacramento County Misleads Consumers on DTV Transition (You Can Help on This)
Sacramento County (that’s in California), is telling folks some really misleading information about the Digital TV transition. The DTV transition is confusing for many already. Some think they need to buy a new TV, when really all they need is a converter box. Others think that they need to buy a brand new HDTV. And, [...]
Deal: USB TV Tuner with ATSC & QAM for Media Center $14.99
Newegg is offering the KWorld 340U TV Tuner for only $14.99 after a $20 mail-in rebate. This USB stick-style tuner is compatible with Windows Media Center, and can do both cable and over-the-air programming. There aren’t QAM drivers available for Media Center (something that will hopefully be fixed by TV Pack 2008… Microsoft still hasn’t [...]
Why TiVo Suggestions Can Appear to Be Paid For
Some of you may be wondering if TiVo Suggestions (where the TiVo records, using free space, shows it things you might like), are bought and paid for. The main reason for this is that when there is a movie in theaters, you may get a bunch of related content from a TV show tied to [...]
CableCARD DRM Problem Finally Addressed, Microsoft Can Now Patch It
Looks like my war with CableCARD might be over. CableLabs has gone official in saying that CableCARD no longer has to DRM all recordings made on a PC… even those that have not been copy-protected by the provider. As I’ve covered in-depth on my blog, again and again, it made absolutely zero sense that TiVo [...]
Microsoft Offers QAM for Media Center, Just Not to You
This one really has me ticked. Microsoft has released a Media Center “TV Pack” (similar to a Power Pack or Service Pack). The update/upgrade enables Clear QAM support for Windows Media Center inside of Vista SP1. This is important because? Well, it means that you can now watch HD programming over cable, without the need [...]
TiVo 9.4 Update Adds a Lot
TiVo is gearing up to push out software version 9.4, and TiVo gave me a sneak peak at the update. This update does the usual bug-fix-and-such, but there are three main new features. One, you can now use any folder as a play folder (where recordings play back-to-back without stopping). Two, closed captioning gets a [...]
Bad Ads: Nintendo DS Women
The latest ads from Nintendo are a perfect example of a bad TV advertisement. In case you haven’t seen them, they feature pop star women using Nintendo DS with assorted games (Brian Age, Nintendogs, Mario, etc). That’s fine, but the format of the ad is worse than bad… it’s alienating. Yes, this is pretty much [...]
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