Product review: Philips 19" Class LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner

I reviewed a flat screen television not too long ago, the Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV. This was a great purchase but it was not the only flat screen television I ever purchased. In fact I had a prior purchase that I want to discuss now.

The Philips 19" Class LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, 19PFL3403D/27 is available from Wal-Mart. It is priced at $347, which makes it a very reasonable purchase. It is capable of being used as a screen for the computer, or as a television. It is easy to hookup cable, video games, DVD players or most anything else you would consider.

Resolution can go up to 1440 x 900 pixels, though 720 is recommended. It has two 6-watt speakers. And with the conversion to HDTV (a real waste of money in my opinion, and a great way to pick up television sales) it has the ability to go to the new format immediately without any additions.

But the fact is that I find this LCD television inferior if not problematic. The television works fine, at least in the first year. But after that well there are problems.

Now I should mention that my use of a television is not exactly normal. In fact I exceed what most would call normal. I watch news about 16 hours a day, 6 days a week. That is well outside the norm of anyone. Thus I tend to stick with LCD televisions to help prevent any screen burning. That is important to remember if you consider plasma televisions, long term use – especially if you watch a single channel a lot, or play video games where the screen does not change often.

But the Phillips LCD is fine with those aspects. Honestly it’s reliable in the picture quality. The problem is with the sound, especially when the television is turned on.

After a year of use, which might equate to 2 years of use for most, the sound starts to get wonky. When the television is turned on the sound fails completely. No sound at all.

The way to get around that is to turn the set off, and then back on 2 or 3 times. You have to let the set stay off about 30 seconds each time it’s switched off. If you don’t do this the sound will come back and then cut off in about a minute.

If you do this too many times, or not enough, you will get scratchy sound for about 2 minutes, and they a horrible, loud tonal noise that sounds like a fire alarm just went off. The volume of the alarm will exceed the volume setting of the television.

I should note that the sound settings I prefer to use is about 30, which is just under 1/3 the total volume the television can deliver.

The problem with the sound is irritating at the least. Even when it is done properly the sound starts with huge static that fades over the first 5 – 10 minutes of use. Thus if you want to watch something suddenly, like say a news forecast about a tornado approaching, you are out of luck.

So is this a great television? For the first year the cost is worth the ease of use. But unless you like to replace televisions on an annual or bi-annual basis this is not the product you want.

Product review: JVC Kaboom Box

Let’s say that you want to listen to some music. Maybe you just moved, or bought a new house. You don’t have a lot of money. But you really want to enjoy your music whether on the radio, CD’s, or on your Ipod. What will you do?

Well you could buy a cheap all in one stereo. But the sound quality of those are abysmal, and at higher volumes the sound quickly becomes distorted. You could get better earphones for your MP3, but they your friends couldn’t enjoy the music. You could outfit your MP3 with speakers, but again the quality is limited, and not nearly full.

The choices on a limited budget is far from thrilling, luxurious, or quality. Unless you own a JVC Kaboom. This is the answer most are looking for.



The Kaboom box starts at about $275, but can be found on the internet (eBay) from reputable sites for about $210. At either price it is affordable and worth every dime. The Kaboom Box RV-NB1 is unique in several ways. It is powerful, compact, portable, and versitle.

The Kaboom Box weighs about 20 lbs. So it’s not exactly light, yet it is very easily moved or taken on the road. You will need about ten D batteries, which will add to the weight, but portable is an option if there is no outlet.

The reason so many batteries are needed, and why the weight is high is because this has 52 Watts of total power. Now I know you might wonder how powerful is that. Well to give you an idea, imagine this. At full power you can place this in the basement of a 2 story brick house of decent size, and hear the music in the attic. I kid you not. I own this and at full power I cannot hear my doorbell standing next to the ringer. It’s loud enough that you can have a block party with this, or be heard outside your house with all the doors and windows closed.

But there is an added bonus. This is not just loud, it is clear sound. At full volume the distortion is minimal to the average ear. That is playing rock, or classical, or jazz. And then there is the bass.

The Kaboom Box comes with a Super Bass Exciter and sub-woofer controller. So you can add extreme bass if you wish. At full volume with a bass heavy song you can vibrate everything in a room, even if that room is over 15 feet long. There is no question that everyone out of earshot will know the music you like.

But the Kaboom box also supplies another bonus. It has the ability to play AM/FM radio, CD’s, and has a connection for an iPod MP3 and/or an electric guitar. No let me be clear, when I say Ipod I mean just that. There is no universal connector, so if you have a different MP3 player it won’t work, I tried and the connection is wrong. And if you are old fashioned and own cassette tapes, you are in luck it will play them too.


But if you have the right connection cords you can hook up your Kaboom Box to your computer and run music streaming from the internet through your Box. Which can be huge fun and allow for an awesome collection of music.

Some of the exact stats are as follows:

• 2- 3 3/16" Front Firing Full Range Speakers and 2- 6 5/16" Subwoofers
  
• 15 AM and 30 FM Station Memory
  
• Full Function Remote Control
  
• Width: 27 3/16"
  
• Height: 9 7/16"
  
• Depth: 11 11/16"
  
• 52 Watts Total Power, Bi-Amplified
  
• Active Clear Sound (ACS) to improve clarity for better balance with deep lows
  
• Carrying Strap with Remote Control Holder
  

Full-Range: 6 watts per channel, min. RMS, driven into 4 ohms, from 150Hz to 15kHz; Super Woofer: 20 watts per channel, min. RMS, driven into 4 ohms, at 60Hz

I own a Kaboom Box, and I recommend them to anyone that wants to have quality sound at reasonable prices.

Product Review: Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV

As I mentioned previously I recently bought a new house. So of course I’m in the process of trying out new products. One of the biggest expenses in a new home is the purchase of furniture, and electronics to fill a room. That is also true of my house.

Now I want to mention that I am 40. That means that I grew up with a 13” black and white television, that had a knob to turn the channels. I got that TV when I was about 12, after my mother got herself a color 20” TV. Throughout my life I don’t ever recall having ever owned a television set that was bigger. So I decided that it was about time to see what all the rage is about with the larger flat screen sets.

I purchased the Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV, model number 46rv530u. And it is big. Very big. In fact if you own a sub-compact car you better have it delivered. It won’t fit into a 2-door car, and it’s best if you NEVER lay the set on it’s back if possible. If you must lay it down, do so for a short a period of time as possible, and be very sure to have the TV lay on a couple of soft thick blankets. If not you will likely ruin the screen and will have wasted your time and money.

But once you get this over-sized TV into your home the next problem is where to put it. I decided that the idea of placing it on the wall neither fit with my room design, nor do I find that a comforting though. So I had it go on the entertainment stand I also bought. I think it looks great.


So you have the big monster now. Is it actually worth the equally large price? And by the way Toshiba has a msrp for this model of $1799. I have seen it priced as high as $2400. So keep an eye out, because I did find a deal and got mine for under msrp before taxes of course. And that is not a refurbished set, I mean new.

Well yes it is. The picture is crisp, even when the full screen setting is being used. And there is nothing like say V for Vendetta in a mini-silver screen let me tell you. The options for the color settings are pretty good too. The Sports setting seems to be most crisp, with a bit more red emphasis. The Personal setting is more emphasized to the blue spectrum, and the movie setting is an even balance but tends to look like a soft lens was placed over the entire screen – softening all the edges but also dulling the picture quality a bit. For my own taste the sports version seems best overall.

The sound on the system is fantastic. It’s loud and resonating without the tinish sound you may be used to now. The base is quite good as well. And this is all done without a single round speaker. Amazing.

Hooking up cable is simple as the system will automatically recognize and configure itself once you plug in the cable line. The remote control is likewise very intuitive. Without reading the extensive manual I was able to set up my dvd player (using a 3 prong red/yellow/white connecting cord). I didn’t hook up one of my computers as the hdmi – dvi connection cord cost $59 which I find to be outrageous.

Overall I am very pleased with the quality and ease of use. I find it to be worth the money, and difficulty to install. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.