Best Dell Inspiron i3531-1200BK 15.6 inch Laptop Review

Dell Inspiron i3531-1200BK 15.6-Inch Laptop - Modern laptops are becoming more powerful all the time. More RAM and hard drive space along with faster CPUs make many of them true desktop replacement PCs, and there seems to be no end to the enhancements in sight.
But not everyone needs the fastest, most powerful laptop on the block. If you just need a laptop that does a good job at surfing the Internet, checking email, watching Youtube videos and making simple edits to photos, a good budget model should serve you quite well.
The Dell Inspiron i3531-1200BK is a 15.6 inch laptop that will do everything mentioned above, and more. While it won’t be setting any speed records, it’s plenty fast enough and powerful enough to do what the average Internet user needs for a budget laptop to do.
It comes with an Intel Celeron N2830 CPU, 4GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB), a 500 GB hard drive, 802.11bgn Wi-Fi support and a built-in webcam. Another nice feature is a numeric keypad which is something of a rarity among budget laptops. Add in the average 6.5 hour battery life and you can see that this is a pretty capable machine for the money!
Of course at just $250 there are bound to be a few tradeoffs to consider, and that’s certainly the case here. For example, there is no optical drive for installing software from disc, watching DVDs or listening to CDs. But few people do those things with laptops anymore anyway, and if you need to you can always plug in an inexpensive external USB optical drive.
The video quality provided by this laptop isn’t the sharpest around, but most users will find it quite adequate for watching Internet videos and such.
Overall, this is a good entry-level budget laptop. The price just can’t be beat, and unless you need a laptop for gaming or running resource-intensive software such as Adobe Photoshop, I think you’ll find it to be a very viable option for your basic Internet and general purpose computing needs.

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Viewsonic pjd5134 svga dlp projector with 3d blu-ray ready

Blown away!!

I can't say enough good things about this projector. ViewSonic PJD5134 SVGA DLP Projector, 3000 Lumens,3D Blu-Ray w/HDMI, 120Hz is an amazing value and delivers a superb theater experience in my living room. Just a little background in my home theater experience... In college, one of my buddies had an old auditorium projector in his dorm room. We fashioned a screen out of a grid of computer paper on his wall so that he could still open his door haha. When we got an apartment together during our senior year, we made a screen out of a California King sheet. We stretched the sheet tight and made a border out of black duct tape. We enjoyed a year of movies and shows on our 155" screen.

Fast forward to now. I wanted to take my home theater experience to the next level and this projector was the perfect way to do it! Here's a brief outline of key features and my impression of them: Resolution: The three biggest features most people look for when talking about projectors are resolution, contrast ratio, and lumens. The resolution of this projector is SVGA 800x600. This is far from full HD, which is the majority of content I'll be viewing, but the picture is astounding! I'm a stickler when it comes to picture quality. I have a 42" 120hz 3D tv in my bedroom. I ALWAYS buy the blu ray version of new movies and I stream HD all the time on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. I care deeply about picture quality to say the least. That being said, this projector blows me away in picture quality. I watched Star Wars on blu ray last week on my tv and watched it again this weekend on the projector for comparison.

Although the picture was slightly better on the tv, nothing compares to watching Star Wars on a big screen. The picture was very sharp. Absolutely amazing. Contrast Ratio: 15,000:1 contrast ratio. What can I say, the shadows were very dark and the highlights were very bright. I don't have a proper home theatre with dark walls and such so there was a lot of reflected light but I was blown away again with the high contrast image. Lumens: It is important to know the lighting conditions in your theater when choosing a projector. Rooms with higher ambient light will need a higher lumen projector to overpower the ambient. With the shades drawn, I have no problem watching movies with this projector during the daytime. Of course, wait until night with complete darkness and the screen is incredibly bright and vivid. This projector beyond bright enough for my conditions. Inputs/Outputs: Okay so now onto the fine details. The Viewsonic has multiple inputs for a wide variety of devices. I run an HDMI cable from my bedroom to the living room for my theater. The projector takes an HD signal and converts it to the proper resolution. I then use the 1/8" audio out to run to my sound system. Placement/orientation: This is the only gripe I have with this projector.

I have a relatively long living room. My screen is 110" diagonal and is located at one of the far sides. I wanted to be able to mount the projector and the other far end, high on the wall for convenience. Unfortunately for me, the distance was too great to fit the picture on to my screen. The projected image was about 6" too big on all sides. I was upset but this was not the projector's fault; I had a limited mounting options (I live in an apartment so no ceiling mounts) and I had a fixed screen size. My issue with the projector came in when I tried to place the projector on a table towards the back of the room. The image beam from the projector comes out in four ways: Front ceiling, rear ceiling, front table, rear table. The "rear" refers tor rear projection. All of these settings have an angle pitch that is a little extreme. The keystone adjustment offers a little correction but not enough. I had to put little pieces of cardboard under the back feet of the projector to properly line up the image. So, more options for the angle of the lens elements would have been nice but this all is not a deal breaker by any means. Bulb life: Rated at up to 6,000 hours. I have no clue how long this will actually last me. I imagine during the first several weeks/months I will use the projector very frequently but then may ween off a bit in order to maintain the magic of the viewing experience each time I use it. One helpful tip is to use to projector as a treat or special event. Don't watch Judge Judy or American Idol on it or it will quickly lose that "wow" factor. Instead, use it for social gatherings, the season finale of The Walking Dead, the Super Bowl, gaming tournaments, etc. Bottom line: I use this projector for both video and gaming. It provides a stunning picture even for a videophile like me. If you are looking into setting up a home theater, take a serious look at this projector before considering spending much more money on an HD projector. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. UPDATE: I made a video review but wasn't happy with it so I didn't post it. Instead, I will answer any questions you have about the projector in the comment section. Since writing my initial review, I have used the 3D function pretty extensively. I use the Sainsonic DLP Link glasses.

The experience is very enjoyable with a much more immersed feeling than my 3D tv. The 3D elements pop off the screen at you like in the theater. Also, I've been watching the NCAA tournament with some buddies using the projector. My house has become "the spot" for watching the tournament. It truly does create an atmosphere that a tv cannot begin to touch. We've been able to have the lights on and eat pizza and wings and drink some brews while watching Syracuse dominate ;) I'll see how well they do in the Final Four this Saturday on a glorious 110" screen with all my buddies. I'm telling you... get this projector and see how much of an impact it has on your entertainment experience!!

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#LG 50PB6600 Review (50PB6650); 50 inch Smart TV

This came up as the deal of a lifetime while I was browsing for TVs. $599 with free shipping is an absolute steal for a gorgeous 60" plasma panel. If this goes on sale again, I will buy another one. The picture initially did not look very good from factory, but this was easily rectified once I calibrated it and set it on Expert mode. What I ended up with was a clear, sharp and vivid picture, and I tested it with some pixel perfect 1080p Anime rips, and the colors were so alive I just wanted to pause the scene and leave it on just to stare at how pretty the picture was.

Turned off all of the energy saving features, the auto-dim finally went away and I was able to enjoy a solid picture. Contrast is beyond satisfactory when compared to my ever-fading LG LK520 42" from 4 years ago. I also have a light-controlled room and don't usually watch movies/tv in a well-lit environment so I never had any issues with glare, I should warn you that the TV screen is on the glossy side.

Smart TV features, to be honest, I don't use any of that junk. I use Plex as my main media source, and I have a Roku plugged into an HDMI RCA extractor, and that's split between the TV and a 2.1 analog sound system. This as a whole creates a very affordable, yet entertaining setup for me.

Lastly, I should also add that this TV is burglar proof.. because it weighs quite a bit, I'm a 6' 185 lb dude, and I had a pretty hardtime lifting and setting this thing up, all by myself.

I am happy to have jumped on this LG Electronics 50PB6650 50-Inch 1080p 600Hz PLASMA TV (Black), despite the fact that it had 2 terrible ratings when I stumbled on it. But I hope my review, alongside others will help you make the right choice. Honestly, I will buy this TV over and over again for that price.

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LG Electronics 50LB5900 50-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED TV

This about LG Electronics 55LB5900 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED TV (Electronics)

This replaces a 9-month old 50" Panasonic Plasma which had to be retired when my 20-month old threw a lego block at it and somehow managed to both crack the screen and bugger the board.

As plasmas are being withdrawn from the market I decided to give this LED thing a crack - Over the first 24 hrs I have been super-impressed by the clarity of the picture, vibrancy of colours and even depth of blacks, which on some settings actually match my Panasonic.

I've owned Samsungs, LG's and Panasonic in the past. Panasonic seemed to have a 'premium' feel, but this TV is every bit as good, and picture-wise, even better.

I haven't experienced the 'soap opera' effect with this set either, though the first thing I did was go in and calibrate my picture settings, so that may have something to do with that. Regardless, the picture is beautifully natural and super-crisp to watch. Basically the perfect balance.

I opted for an extra 5 inches over the older tv (so the 55" model) and am glad I did - the extra 5" makes a difference and the clarity of this set means that even from a short distance away, everything is crystal clear. I loved my Panasonic plasma but there were a few things that irked me a bit... The picture was not "mind-blowingly" sharp and whites were always pretty dull (a by-product of plasma and something you just need to accept). This TV rectifies all of that with punchy whites, deep blacks and a beautifully crisp HD picture.

Overall what I love most is that, regardless of what picture type I want, I have complete control... So, I can have whites that burn my retinas if I wish, which was something I could never get on the plasma.

Setup could not be easier and the pre-set picture settings are actually very good (though I still advise taking your preferred one and fine-tuning a little for your own preferences and/or to get a more natural tone).

I was a little concerned over what the sound would be like on such a thin panel but it's actually very strong (again, plenty of automatic settings which seem to work pretty well). I've not yet tried a sound bar so I'm sure it would make the sound even better, but with two small kids in the house and most of my viewing coming after 8pm when they're asleep, I'm not at the stage of opting for a sound bar or surround system just yet.

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with LG these days; the brand is on the ascendancy in technology with TVs, Phones etc all coming out at the very highest level. I can't speak to their customer service as I've never had to use it but a lot of other brands' reputations (ahem, Hisense) put me off risking my investment with them, even though their showroom TVs looked phenomenal.

One thing the TV lacks is Smart capability. This doesn't interest some but for me was essential. Why did I buy this set then? Well, the "Smart" version was over $200 more. So I bought this along with a Roku streaming stick for $50 which gives me all the apps I want to watch (as well as some very cool ones I never knew about, like Amazon Cloud Player, Qello, to name a few). Sure, it adds another remote to the mix, so if that is going to make or break the deal for you, opt for the Smart version (which is currently $899).

I'll update if anything happens or disappoints with the TV but so far I couldn't be happier. Looks like the best TV we've owned.

*UPDATE 1 Week in - After a week of use, not much has changed - awesome TV, crystal clear image, decent sound - getting plenty of use out of it and would definitely recommend the 55" over the 50". I definitely feel the "Smart" features are essential for me these days, but the $50 Roku I added is working really, really well so don't be afraid to use that as an option - the Roku features are much better than the semi-smart functionality of my Panasonic Plasma (it only had 5 options; Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Youtube and some movie thing). Highly recommended.

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Samsung 51 inch plasma tv hdtv reviews

Samsung PN51F4500 51-Inch 720p 600Hz Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
It seems as though every single product category on the planet these days has to sacrifice itself to the lowest common denominator. I'm not that old yet and I still remember when the household "TV buying day" was a special event, and you were assured that if you wanted anything at least 32 inches in size, you were going to drop close to a 1000.00 or more for a quality set from one of the major name brands. Fast forward 15 or 20 years and now nothing it seems is immune from the economic race to the bottom, not even a "big" TV.

I had initially purchased a Westinghouse DW46F1Y1 at Microcenter seeing that as an incredible deal at 349.00 for an LED backlit 46 inch LCD. However I wasn't terribly pleased with the overall quality of the TV, knowing that just a few bucks more would probably get me something from one of the big name brands. I haven't had a plasma in several years and decided it was time to go back. I zeroed in on both the LG and Samsung 50-ish inch "4500" series models (how confusing is it that BOTH companies 720P offerings for 2013 are "4500" series models, couldn't they have figured this out before-hand?) but felt 449.00 for the LG was only within a stone's throw of the 1080P offerings from both companies at the time this review was written. However, I just happened across an open box of this Samsung sitting off to the side in its box when visiting one of our local BBs. Now keep in mind I have NEVER advocated buying open box plasma televisions. It's just a BAD idea as 9 times out of 10 what you're going to get is a floor demo that has had thousands of hours of burn time or a customer return that has potentially had image retention that the store wouldn't have detected when they took it back.

In this case, I figured it was cheap enough worth taking a chance on. The price on the box was 429 and knowing that the current sale price was 449 I asked to see if I could get a better price. We settled on another 10 percent off and the TV ended up being about 385.00. To my surprise, when I got the TV home and set it up it was absolutely brand new. Service menu reading indicated that the TV had literally ZERO hours of use, so this must have been a buyer's remorse return, like my Westinghouse for example.

With that little bit of history on the why and the how of the purchase, I must say that the feature set and quality of this TV is absolutely unbelievable at this modest price-tag. There are DOZENS of picture quality settings just like the big brothers to adjust many facets of the image quality to your liking, whether you are a novice or experienced videophile. There is a clock with a timer, a quickly evaporating feature these days, and even PICTURE IN PICTURE of all things! As far as I know the PIP will only work with the TV's internal tuner as one of the sources, but it's still a feature you simply never see any more. Even the remote, which is often a complete afterthought on anything near this price, is a chunky, well made and backlit affair to aid in night time use for those who don't have universal remotes of some sort. And keep in mind, we're still talking about the STRIPPED DOWN 2013 model here, still replete with tons of unexpected features. Additionally, there is an orbiter to protect from image retention, and economy modes which reduce the panel luminance based on ambient light in the room. Typically, ambient light adjusted brightness is another feature found on higher cost sets and something Samsung simply doesn't need to include at this price-point.

• Samsung PN43F4500 51 inch Plasma TV New

All in all, Samsung threw the kitchen sink at this TV features-wise to say nothing of the already very respectable Clear Image panel and picture quality for such a bargain bin television. I can not recommend this TV enough at under 400.00 if you can find one. At 450 or higher I would likely recommend stepping up to the 5300 model with 1080P resolution (bearing in mind that the "street" price for the 5300 is currently 549 at BB and possibly other retailers at the time this review was written). The BEST no-holds barred image quality "budget" plasma would be the Panasonic TC-P50S60 but it's still 700.00. I paid close to half for this TV and it does everything I need it to do. The only reason I didn't give the TV 5 stars is an annoying problem which is being seen on more and more TVs today, and that is the lack of analog audio outputs for those of us who use 2 channel stereo equipment, along with only 2 HDMI inputs of which even the lowly Westy had 3. There are ways around both of these problems, though at additional cost and cable clutter.

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Nikon D3200 DSLR Camera with 1855mm VR Lens

Beats the competition

Having originally gone for a Canon 1000D four years ago, I grew increasingly frustrated with the very poor image quality, so I've sold all my Canon kit and have switched to Nikon's D3300. I am a beginner photographer/astro-photographer.

This is an entry level or upper entry level camera which outcompetes Canon's alternatives in the form of the 1200D and 100D. Although slightly bigger than the 100D which was marketed as the world's smallest DSLR, you wouldn't really think so if the cameras were put side by side. In terms of image quality, you get 24mp versus 18mp resolution in those two other models, but on top of this the sensor gives you 35% more image quality, 11% more colour depth, over DOUBLE the low light ISO sensitivity (half your exposure time), and 14% more dynamic range (an image shows a greater range of light levels rather than everything either dark or light). Check Dxomark scores, which are lab tests done on cameras in a controlled environment using high tech software and sensors if you want to verify these numbers.

The body feels solid yet light, grips in the hand very nicely and has intuitively placed buttons. The buttons have a nice clicky feel to them, and I particularly like the column of buttons on the left side of the screen. It has some nice features, the most notable of which is that you can apply many fun filters to your images on the camera. One of these is a 'miniature effect', where the top and bottom bands of the image are blurred as per your input to give a cool artistic effect, and in movie mode at 1080P HD resolution it compresses time by 15x so that a 45 minute movie turns into a 3m movie - making everything appear miniaturised and fast. On the auto modes any beginners will be able to use this camera, and the auto focus is top notch.
Nikon D3300 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR II Lens Kit - Red (24.2MP) 3.0 inch LCD 

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xbox one controller wireless technology

First of all, Microsoft released official PC drivers that allow you to connect an Xbox One controller (they're all both wireless and wired) to a PC using a micro-USB 2.0 cable. The drivers are on Windows Update at the time of this writing (July 2014), and using the USB cable seems to turn it into a pure, no-batteries-needed wired controller. It is also said to be compatible with all existing games that work with the Xbox 360 controller.

From a speedrunner's perspective, the reduced dead zones on the joysticks, the wired responsiveness (I used to use wireless 360 controllers), and the more comfortable grip are awesome features of the Xbox One's controller. Oh, and the D-Pad. The D-Pad is amazing, wonderful, and a huge improvement over the 360's, especially if you're fond of Nintendo's D-Pads (they're very similar).

I'd recommend trying one of these at a local game shop before buying here (Amazon's price is notably lower) to make sure you like it. It feels different from an Xbox 360 controller, so if you're coming from that it might be feel a bit weird at first. For me, the Xbox One controller is definitely more comfortable than its predecessor, and I only wish it were backwards compatible on console!

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