Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive – MB189LL/A

Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive – MB189LL/A Your computer is the center of your digital life. Your TV is the center of your entertainment life. But what if you want to watch movies, TV shows, movie trailers, podcasts, and photos from your computer on your TV? Apple TV brings iTunes to the big screen.Say you’ve just downloaded Cars from iTunes. Instead of huddling around your computer to watch, you pop some popcorn while your computer wirelessly syncs your new flick to Apple TV. Then you pull up a seat, put up your feet, and pick up the included Apple Remote to play your movie on TV. Give yourself a hand: you’ve just changed the way you watch digital media.Apple TV connects to your TV via an HDMI port or component video and audio ports. Its built-in, superfast 802.11 wireless capability syncs your iTunes library to any Mac or PC in the house. Best of all, what’s on Apple TV stays in sync: anytime you change your library in iTunes, it changes on Apple TV – wirelessly, automatically.Apple TV puts your iTunes library – movies, TV shows, music, and podcasts – plus movie trailers from Apple.com on your TV. And your digital photos from iPhoto on a Mac or Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Album on a Windows PC appear in high definition, so you can put on a stunning big-screen slideshow.
Customer Review: Don’t Buy Before You Read This
My Apple TV (ATV) worked fine for over a year. That changed with the latest software upgrade. Apple support is the worst I’ve experienced. Syncing with iTunes has stopped since their latest version 2.3 of the ATV software. A number of people are having this issue and reported it on the Apple support forum. Apple Support was totally unhelpful. Wanted me to pay for “extended care” since I bought my ATV last year. I said it’s not my out-of-Apple support ATV, but their new software that’s the problem. Told me it was “buyer beware” with respect to updates your ATV prompts you to do, and that my only recourse was to role back to the factory default (version 1.1) – that is unless I wanted to pay for support. So I asked her if she’d heard of the problem, and she said no. Excuse me? What would I be paying for then? Why can’t this company support the software they just released for free like any other responsible manufacturer??? They are shooting themselves in the foot because now that I’ve rolled back to 1.1, I can’t buy the new content they’re pushing from the iTunes store. So much for the Apple mantra that “it just works.”

And here’s the icing on the cake – when I posted my experience on the Apple Support forum and asked for help, they deleted it as a “non-constructive rants or complaints.” Apparently, customer dissatisfaction is something they don’t want to hear about or for others to know. Interestingly, when I searched for my problem with the search function on Apple’s forum, I couldn’t come up any postings on point. I then went to Google and found relevant posts on the Apple forum right away.

So to be clear, I loved my Apple TV until Apple released this upgrade to its software. If there is a solution to this problem, good luck in getting it out of Apple since they don’t even acknowledge there is a problem which is posted on their user forums.

Think long and hard before placing yourself at the mercy of Apple’s support policies. And I certainly wouldn’t buy this product until Apple announces that the problem has been fixed.
Customer Review: Reliable, but movie selection is limited.
Setup took a while, downloading of iTunes library and my photos taking the most time. I’ve only had to reboot it once due to hanging up. Itunes movie rental library is limited. Video podcasts are great, many are higher quality than those that I download on my TiVo series 2. I also enjoy the screen saver feature with my digital photos flowing while I’m playing songs from my iTunes library.

Hasbro Designer’s World TV Plug-In Game

Hasbro Designer’s World TV Plug-In Game Can you turn rags into riches’ Will your dazzling designs bring you fortune and fame’ You’ll find out when you catwalk your way into Designer’s World, a TV plug-in game where girls can create their own styles. Just plug the console into any standard TV (not included), and you’re in control of your very own world of high fashion. Requires 4 “AA” batteries and 2 “AAA” batteries, not included.
a fashion entrepreneur in the making!
My daughter had been talking about how she wanted this game for sometime. She rec’d it Xmas ‘07 & still plays with it. I have found myself designing outfits & doing the shows too. The educational value is good – the designers have to learn how to manage their money in order to pay for outfits, shows, new models & other “upgrades”. She asked lots of questions as she was playing it on how to make good fashion & money decisions.
Here is my 9 yr old’s thoughts: It is fun to play with because you are able to design clothes like real designers. I like to see how well the judges like my outfits! I enjoy having my own store and having best sellers!

An educatioal toy
I bought the toy for my granddaughter for Christmas for this year. She’s into designing and I thought this might help her to get started. But I won’t know if she likes it until after Christmas.

Philco TB100HH9 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box

Philco TB100HH9 Digital to Analog TV Converter Box Composite audio/video outputsTrilingual (English French and Spanish) on-screen setupSupports V-Chip parental controls and digital closed captioningEnergyStar compliantIncludes remote control
Great Converter box
I bought this and another brand converter box and I love them both…they do exactly what I anticipated and more…highly recommended…the price was great too with the government coupon.
Works Well, no surprises
This converter was easy to set up, quickly adds all available digital channels and the picture quality is really a lot better than I imagined. With the set-top antenna I had to change the orientation to get more than three clear analog channels. All available over-the-air channels are now clear with digital, using the same antenna.

This box is a little slow to change channels. As far as I can tell, it’s also not possible to delete one subchannel without deleting them all for a given channel, so if you have duplicates (one is the same as the next except it’s only partial screen) it’s not possible to just get rid of one. That said I’m overall happy with my purchase.

Hasbro DreamLife Interactive TV Plug-In Game

Hasbro DreamLife Interactive TV Plug-In Game Create the life you’ve always dreamed about with the Dream Life TV Plug In Game. It’s the start of a brand-new school year, and what you do is totally up to you! Make lots of friends, join a sports team and go shopping. Just plug it into any TV and create your ultimate life! Includes game remote and game module. TV not included. Requires 4 “AA” batteries, not included. Alkaline batteries recommended.
A 10 Year Olds Point Of Few
I had this game for awhile, but eventually my 5 year old sister lost the romote and we lost the disk! Now my older sis is 13, i’m 10, and lil sis is 6. This game has its up and downs but its a really fun game!!!! If I would rate this from 1 to 5, 5 being the best, I would give it a 4! This game lets you create a girl, creates its personality,hair,outfit, and etc. and you can creat a rooom and do chores and more! Its a girls life! I wish there was more to do… but this game is also a learning game, but what really matters is that i’m having fun! It teaches me the value of friendship,money,and more! I really want it again and my parents said that if all 3 of us will play it, its totally worth it! I’d say the range of age would be 7-14, and it would be younger but because of younger kids can’t read, its hard for them! Maybe even older! My neighbor is about to become 15 and she loves it!
My daughter loves this!
My 9 year old daughter can’t seem to get enough of this! I thought it was kinda dumb @ first but now I get into it with her.

Coby KTFDVD1093 10.2-Inch Under-The-Cabinet LCD TV with Built-in DVD/CD Player and AM/FM Radio

DVD R/RW CD CR-R/RW and JPEG compatibleDual ATSC/NTSC tuner for digital and standard TV broadcast reception10.4 wide sreen TFT color display16:9 aspect ratioIntergrated digital AM/FM radio with stereo speakersAudio/Video input for video games and VCRs
Good Purchase
Easy to install. Picture quailty is good. Menu is a little difficult to navigate at first. Not many 10″ LCD’s out there. I would recommend this unit to a friend.
just right
WE PURCHASED THIS AS A GIFT FOR A FAMILY MEMBER ,, WHO HAS EVERYTHING AND CAN GET WHAT EVER THEY NEED ON THERE OWN ,, AND THEY “LOVED IT ” THEY JUST HAD A FAMILY PARTY AND IT WAS ONE OF THE TALKS OF THE PARTY…
SUE & GARY MILLER HANCOCK NYCoby KTFDVD1093 10.2-Inch Under-The-Cabinet LCD TV with Built-in DVD/CD Player and AM/FM Radio

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player Combined with a My Passport portable drive (sold separately), this player is the most convenient way to play HD movies or user-generated videos, listen to high-quality digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your TV. Also works with popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices.ras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices. Full HD video playback and navigation is up to 1080p – experience the spectacular picture quality of HD video and crystal clear sound clarity of digital audio. Use the included remote control to navigate through your entertainment choices using crisp, animated HD menus.
Close but no cigar
If you need something to play your avi’s and mpegs on a big screen at high res, it doesn’t get any easier than this. It takes about 3 to 4 mins for it to scan 80gbs of movies, photos, and music every time I power it on. The menu interface is nicely done and the remote is nicely done (I can quickly access all buttons without looking at it). Also, you can’t go wrong on the price, considering how much this little guy offers.

Now for the bad news. I have quite a few .ts files and mkv’s that either did not play or did play but poorly. Word of caution to the anime folks, those high-res mkv’s will play but with no subtitles. I know it’s been mentioned before but what’s the point of buying this if I still have to re-convert the files to either burn the subs (Making it a hardsub) or changing it to a .srt file? Blu-ray files suffered from artifacts making it unwatchable. It’s small enough to carry but it would have been nice to stream content over a network.

I give it credit for playing files my PS3 can’t but my PS3 seems to have better color output, can do frame by frame, rewinds and fast forwards smoother, and has a better interface. I’m going to check out Popcorn’s av100.
Excellent device with key missing features
I ordered this device through Amazon and received it the following day (Buy.com was the merchant), so I was very happy with the quick shipping. I bought this after having used an original Xbox with XBMC (Xbox Media Center) for the past couple of years. My main reasons for buying it were the fact that it’s very compact, silent (as compared to the noisy Xbox), and plays high bitrate HD content perfectly.

So far I’m very happy with it despite some major missing features. The lack of a network connection drastically reduces the convenience by forcing you to disconnect your USB hard drive to copy stuff onto it and reconnect. With the Xbox I could stream from a network hard drive and therefore I could copy newly downloaded or encoded content to the shared location straight from my computer without physically disconnecting or moving anything. Devices like the Popcorn Hour offer a network connection and other features the WD TV HD lacks, but they cost more and aren’t so small.

I love the tiny size of this device because I can easily unplug it and move it to another room, or even take it on a vacation. In situations like that the analog video and audio outputs are a key feature because I can connect to almost any TV.

Compatibility with files is not as good as the XBMC. It plays about 90% of the content I’ve collected, whereas the XBMC will play almost 100%. It does better with newer codecs and high bitrates, and has more compatibility problems with old WMV or AVI files. That said, the device runs much faster and looks amazing when playing HD content. Looks as good as my Samsung Blu-ray player when playing Blu-ray rips.

I’d love to see more UI features and better codec support added (the firmware is still version 1.0). The UI is attractive and easy to use, but very bare-bones. I’d like a way to jump forward or back in a longer video without having to FF or rewind, a way to copy files from one connect USB device to another, and many other features that WD is hopefully working on.

DreamLife Superstar TV Plug-In Game

DreamLife Superstar TV Plug-In Game .caption { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica neue, Arial, serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; } ul.indent { list-style: inside disc; text-indent: -15px; } The Hasbro dream-life TV plug-in game turns every youngster into a super-star. Ideal for children ages 8 and up, this interactive game allows children to embark on a fabulous adventure as a celebrity. Dream Life takes place over a virtual summer vacation and provides kids with hours of entertainment.

Easy Setup and Control
Dream Life Superstar plugs right into a TV’s audio-visual inputs. It comes with its own purple wireless remote control and an instruction booklet. Just plug the game console into the TV, grab the remote, and you’re ready for action. Plus, the Dream Life game is easy to transport. When it’s time to pack it up, children can save their game and take it to a friend’s house or start over and create an entirely new celebrity.

Adventures on the Red Carpet
Dream Life allows players to visit a fantasy world only experienced by the rich and famous. The player can be an actress, singer, TV star, writer, or athlete and the longer they play the more activities and jobs there are to choose from. The character visits celebrity hangouts including the sound studio, red carpet, and spa. As the celebrities enjoy their new-found success, gifts start to arrive, including fan letters, special-events invites, and more. Additional games are unlocked as the player progresses for endless entertainment opportunities. There are a wide variety of looks, clothes, and activities to experiment with. Dream Life creates a glamorous world where every kid can feel like a superstar. This product requires four AA and two AAA batteries (not included).
Fun for everyone…
We got this for our daughter’s 7th birthday. Once she figured out how to play she loved it! Even our 5 year old son plays with it..actually, I think he plays with it more than she does! LOL My husband has played it a couple of times too, with the children coaching him as he played.
I’m glad we got this plug n play!
Gift for granddaughter greatly enjoyed.
We bought this for our 9 year old granddaughter and she has spent many hours playing with it. I frankly do not know if it has educational value. I have only seen her getting different jobs, getting kicked out of some for errors on questions. Her parents had approved it so I was trusting their judgment that it was Ok morally and otherwise.

Toshiba 15LV505 15.6-Inch Widescreen LCD TV

Toshiba 15LV505 15.6-Inch Widescreen LCD TV with Biult-in DVD (Black) Marketing description is not available.LV505 LCD TV/DVD combo is a great addition to kitchen counters, spare rooms, or dorm rooms. The portable size makes it easy to enjoy movies anywhere in your home.
Excellent TV
TV is very light weight, so easy for my wife to move from room to room. We are taking it on a road trip today to use as our portable DVD player. Picture clarity is excellent.
question/comment
I wonder if the reason the channel switching was slow has something to do with it being an energy star rated item? Or maybe the batteries in the remote were demo batteries and needed to be replaced?

Sanus VMPL50B Universal Flat Panel TV Wall Mount Bracket, Black

Sanus VMPL50B Universal Flat Panel TV Wall Mount Bracket, Black Solid heavy-gauge steel construction with a durable powder-coated finish. This mount with Virtual Axis tilt adjustment system fits most 30″ to 56″ flat panel plasma or LCD TVs. (Dimensions: 28.8 x 18.5 x 2.5 inches)
Great product
We had been shopping around for a good price on this product and this was by far the best price around. Almost half of what you would pay retail.
can’t go wrong with this
I have 46 inch Philips LCD. It took me about 1 hr from start to finish. The hardware is very high quality and came with several nuts and mounting hardwares. I love the option to change the angle.. The TV sits about 4 inches from the wall, which is nice. I think you can’t really go wrong with this purchase.

Haier HLT71 7-Inch Portable LCD TV

Haier HLT71 7-Inch Portable LCD TV HAIER HLT71 7″ PORTABLE LCD TV7″ LCD TV; ELECTRONIC VOLUME CONTROL; SELECTABLE 4:3 OR 16:9 ASPECT RATIO; AUTO SEARCH; A/V STEREO INPUTS; CLOSED CAPTION ; INCLUDES REMOTE and RECHARGEABLE BATTERY; DIM: 5.6″H X 7.5″W X 1.1″D
Nice picture, weak tuner
I bought this to replace my old battery 5″ CRT emergency TV. My hope was that I could somehow get a local digital channel which would play on it without power, using a rabbit ears. I managed to get it to do that. With the supplied antenna, though I live in a major metropolitan area about 8 miles east of the city and 17 miles northeast of most of the transmitters, I can get no digital signals, and a half dozen or so analog, all fuzzy. With something like the TERK HD rabbit ears, with the power turned off to it, I can get one or two local digitals (but NOT the one station I wanted to get). So, I can say it passed the emergency test.

On the other hand, the picture is outstanding and near HD, comparable to one of those portable wide screen DVD players. Playing time seems fairly robust, too, plus it has a car connector.

I give it a couple of negatives for not having an apparent real time on-screen signal strength meter, so you have no way of aiming the antenna easily. The included antenna does not telescope inside the case for easy storage, either. And you cannot just tune to some arbitrary station. There has to be enough signal for the AUTOSCAN to pick up a trace. So if you autoscan with the supplied antenna, it can find very few channels. Best thing to do is hook it up to the best antenna you can find somewhere and then autoscan, then take it home and see if you can tune in a signal there.

I’m also hoping after February 2009 that once every station is up to full digital power and on their permanent assigned frequencies this unit will work much better.
Nice, but……..
This is no doubt a good value, but be aware that digital signals are inherently ‘weak’ in that they require lots of power for transmission. And at this time (pre-digital switch over) most digital signals are not strong enough to carry more than a few miles. So… if like me you live more than 20 miles away from the nearest transmitting tower, you won’t get any digital reception. And the analog reception on this set is about the same (or a little worse) than a cheap analog portable – I get the same one station that my old $30 set gets. Reception is enhanced by using a better set of ‘rabbit ears’ especially one that has a ‘booster’ that you plug in. But that eliminates the main use for a tv like this – to watch while traveling or camping. I’ll keep mine and hope that stations boost their signals post-switch over. If I had it to do over again, though I would have waited until then and read the reviews.