HDTV Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Radio Shack’

2 Meter HDMI M M Cable

Brand new NEW HDMI to HDMI M/M Cable for PS3 1080p HDTV 1.3M Long; 100% new high quality ; A premium quality HDMI-HDMI cable suitable for use in HDTV, Home Theater, and business class projector based applications; Features gold-plated connectors, molded strain-relief, and mylar-foil shielding. Cable constructed using the high quality material for best contact connection between HDMI equipment.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Pretty Good…
I’ve been using this cable for about a year now with my 52″ Samsung LCD & have not had any issues with it. It transfers a clear & sharp signal. The max resolution that I’ve used it with is 1080i (from my HD cable box). I have not used it yet with a Bluray player so I cannot comment on it’s 1080p capability. Overall, great cable for a very CHEAP price…great alternative to the very pricey cables found in stores.

1 Star In this case, I didn’t get what I paid for.
Sure, they were only a penny a piece when I bought them but still, I should have gotten what was advertised- HDMI cables that worked.

Only one out of 4 cables worked on any of my equipment. The fourth cable works only on my satellite tv box, but nothing else.

I continue to believe that no @!%*$ cable is worth anywhere near $60 and up. Wire is wire; I’m sure there are reasonably priced HDMI cables (like for under $10) that work and meet HDMI 1.3 high speed specs just as well as the $100+ Monsters. This ain’t one of them.

5 Stars Works great so far
Bought this instead of the $30-$200 options at local radio shack as connection between Sony Blu-Ray player and Bravia 52″ LCD. It works as advertised. See other poster’s excellent review on fact this one may not be certified to full bandwidth and others in the $2-$3 range are – I would go with one of those if buying it again but so far, no problems.

1 Star Garbage
Sure it’s cheap, but who cares if it doesn’t work. Bought two of these, neither of which work and had to go out and pay regular price for some that actually worked

5 Stars uh huh
What can I say about a $3 HDMI cord, except thank you. I Love my PS3 and I love it even more in $3 HDMI. Looks like it cost $30.

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Antennas Direct CLEARSTREAM4 Antenna

ClearStream antennas represent a breakthrough in size and unmatched ultra efficient design and directionality. Advanced design software allows these 20″ x 28″ antennas to be smaller and powerful across the core UHF DTV spectrum offering consistent high gain. This advancement in antenna efficiency allows up to 98% of the available broadcast signal to actually reach the incoming antenna cable rather than being lost to impedance mismatches. The ClearStream4 quad-loop design receives all core DTV channels available with a range up to 65 +miles. There is also additional capability on higher level VHF frequencies. They are engineered for extra strength and durability, using anodized aluminum for corrosion resistance and are easy to assemble.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars C4 is an excellent value and performer
I wanted to have a default position of not needing cable or satellite TV, so with the DTV transition earlier this year, I thought the time was right. I researched possible antennas for DTV performance and rountinely found reviews of the Antennas Direct C4 to be the highest rated, so I bought it. I actually received it almost a month ago and experimented with it on a makeshift 12′ mast connected to my garbage tote. I routinely pulled in 13 + channels in the Florence, SC area once I found the best orientation. I mounted it permanently to the roof yesterday on a 10 ‘ mast using RG6 quad core coax cable and am now getting 32 + channels. In fact I am watching the Giants/Cowboys game as I write this ( go G men! ) in hi def. I am extremely satisfied at this point. Also, shopping on Amazon is a joy compared to many other online retailers. I wish my company’s web interfaces were this intuitive and easy to use!

2 Stars hdtv
Slightly worse reception than my radio shack 8 foot boom . I am in a fringe area .

5 Stars Antennas Direct Clearstream4
Best price I’ve found for this antenna. Works very well. We can now pickup many more channels than before! They all come in crystal clear. Also purchased the J Mount to install on the side of our house. Doesn’t look any worse than the prior dish did. Great value.

5 Stars Great reception most channels
Very nice reception on about 30 channels actually better than the cable we had.

Some of the close ones do not come in though. Kind of strange. Sometime you will be watching and they will also fade away.

But for what we wanted it is perfect

5 Stars Now I love digital
Great Product! I live in an area that can not get satellite TV. I am 65 miles from the major TV stations. I tried several antennas and had given up on having more then one channel. I purchased the ClearStream 4 and now have 17 channels! I’m thrilled. I live in a very wooded area in a valley. Thanks for a great product.

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Samsung PN42B450 42 Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

42.3″ screen (measured diagonally) * 1024 x 768 pixels * 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio * 600Hz Subfield Motion anti-blur technology * FilterBright anti-glare filter *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Buy This TV!!!
Great TV!!DVDs look AMAZING. Works out of the box. It took me about 4 minutes to set it up; which is the time required to remove the box, find an outlet and turn it on. No tweaking required for me.

Buy this TV!!!

2 Stars No Headphone Jack!!!!!
First of all, this is a great TV despite my 2 stars. After two weeks, everything is perfect with DirecTV HD. The sound, the picture, everything.

Everything, that is, except the lack of a headphone jack.

Now, I knew it didn’t come with a headphone jack when I bought it. But on the Samsung web site, it stated that I could use the audio out to connect to headphones.

I use headphones for about 50-60% of my TV viewing. They are of utmost important to me because there are kids next door, and I can’t turn up the volume after a certain hour. Plus, I have a loud fan going so it’s more comfortable to listen with headphones rather than turn up the volume at full blast.

When the TV arrived, I immediately tested the audio out to headphone connector I bought at Radio Shack. But I soon discovered that in order to listen to the headphones exclusively (without the speakers blasting) I had to turn off the TV volume.

Unfortunately, turning off the TV volume disables the volume control and mute buttons on the remote.

Thus the sound on the headphones, which is VERY, VERY LOW, can’t be turned up or down.

In response, I bought $22 external computer speakers to try to boost the volume. Unfortunately, that didn’t work.

Then I called Samsung, and they said there was no hope of boosting the volume. I was scared I just wasted $680 on a TV that I can’t truly enjoy most of the time.

I assumed listening to a TV with headphones would be a very basic component on a TV set, like it is for possibly every other device.

I had all but given up hope and was going to return the TV, when I discovered the Boostaroo headphone amplifier on Amazkon, which costs about $22. So I bought it, and it actually works great. It boosts the volume. But unfortunately it requires AAAA batteries, which are expensive and hard to come by (unless you buy them en masse).

So because Samsung didn’t include a headphone I had to shell out the following:

Audio out cable and headphone jack connector: $12 at Radio Shack

External speaker: $22

Boosteroo Headphone Amplifier $22 (it now lists at $42).

50 AAAA batteries: $30

I spent $86 to use this TV with headphones.

Anyways, sorry for the drawn-out review, but nobody mentioned a headphone problem in other reviews. Hopefully this will help anybody interested in purchasing this TV.

5 Stars Happy Samsung Fan
I bought this based on the reviews – turned out to be a good decision – great picture and plenty of inputs – you need them if you have Roku, blu ray, vcr, and a dvd player. Only negative would be the sound – satisfactory but certainly could be better. Don’t think you can beat it for what you get for the price!

5 Stars Ooooooh~ Aaaaaaah~
Like many smart shoppers here at Amazon, I’ve done a fair amount of research for my first HDTV purchase, e.g. LCD vs Plasma, 720p vs 1080p, Samsung vs other reputable brands, etc. Thanks everyone for your in-depth posting of your review of Samsung PN42B450.

I bought mine two days ago at Nebraska Furniture Mart during the Berkshire Hathaway (which owns NFM) 26th anniversary sales event for about the same price as I would have paid here at Amazon, tax included and 18 months interest free.

So far, I’m very impressed with the picture quality, sound, and user-friendly menu design. The remote control is sleek and functional, but I wish it had lighted/glow-in-the-dark buttons (I don’t think any HDTV at this price range has one).

FYI, I have my TV placed in a fairly dark half basement family room and sit about 6 feet away from the TV. I watch mostly sports and documentary programs – I’m glad that I didn’t buy a 50″ TV, because 42″ is plenty big, much bigger than it seemed at the store with so many other TVs to divert your attention.

* I think I overpaid for the HDMI cable, so I ordered one for less than $5 from. Let’s see if I see any discernable picture quality loss after switching the cable – I’ll post a follow-up here!

5 Stars Best Picture for Money but Poor Audio
As most of all of you I have looked at many Flat Screens. This is the best picture for the money that I have found under $2000. The LG plasmas are very good but to me they are more forgiving on regular tv and not quite as good as the samsung on HDTV signals. FYI LCDs flat screens in the $800-$1000 range drive me nuts with action blur and off angle viewing. Also, you can adjust this picture to your liking in either dark or bright rooms….maybe too much control. I have no idea how anyone could review this tv with all the different settings. I am an audiophile and the audio is terrible…downward firing tinny sounding speakers, no bass. You will need to use the TV equillizer to get it listenable. AND yes this TV has Left and Right RCA Fixed Audio out which is not clear in literature. Very striking TV. Also, it does not get as hot as other Plasmas??? Not sure why.

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