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Tech News & Commentary
Tom in Columbus, Ohio calling in via the App asked us: “I’m in the market for a new TV. I know there are big TVs which are very expensive and smaller ones that are cheaper. I’m wondering if there is a certain size TV that hits a “sweet spot” between a good value and a lot of features.”
Tom, The problem with answering that is that we can’t define “good value” for you. Some people watch TV non-stop and spending $1000 makes a lot of sense, some people barely ever turn it on and spending $400 is unthinkable for them.
Now, having said that, there is a wide range of TVs and prices in the 50-60 inch categories, and one of them is bound to meet your needs.
We’ve seen TVs ranging from $350 to $1500, from hard to pronounce, chinese, direct-from-the-factory brands, to regular ones like LG and Samsung. If you don’t mind dumb TVs, you can’t argue too much with a $500 50″ Samsung, that you can always attach a Roku to. An extra $1000 on top of that will bump you up a few inches and make it a smart TV, and add 3D if you’re into features you’ll likely never use. Again, that may be worth it to you, but it’s hard to tell without knowing what you consider a good value.
For about $2000 you can start getting into the ultra thin TVs, with built in cameras, with more full featured web browsers and video conferencing software. If you’re looking to buy a TV you can browse the web and Skype on, those may not be a bad deal for you, as they replace a lot of functions that expensive computers used to take care of like video conferencing, web browsing, email, Netflix, YouTube, and other video streaming, so those may also make sense to you.
If all depends on where you personally find the value, if all you want is a pretty large TV with no frills, look into 50-60 inch dumb TVs, those can be had for reasonably cheap.
The other thing to consider is plasma versus LCD/LED. The LCD/LED TVs will be generally less expensive than plasmas, but you will pay a price in picture quality. Plasmas generally have better contrasts, with blacker blacks and brighter colors, as well as better off angle viewing. LCD/LED units will wash out a bit if you’re looking at them from too much of an angle.
So, skip the 3D, keep the size to no more than 60”, and go for the LCD/LED models. That will usually yield the best price, value for dollar.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Jeff in Carey, North Carolina listens via TuneIn Radio asked: “I recently purchased a wifi camera, a Samsung W250F. I’m really enjoying this new camera and the cool features offered, and while not super expensive, I would like to have a case that is sturdy. That said, all the small cases I see offered at the big box stores tend to be rather cheap soft cases that do not seem to offer much in the way of protection. Can you give my some alternative cases that offer a more rigid shell?”
Jeff, If you want to go the real sturdy route, you can look at a company called Pelican – we had them on our CES Part 3 show last week — they make heavy duty cases with foam inserts that you can cut to the shape of your camera. The cases themselves are not expensive, think $25, but they’re very bulky.
We have found more reasonable semi-hard cases on Amazon for about $7, and even heavy duty cases designed for your specific camera for about the same price.
You should be able to find decent choices, but you will probably have to look for them online.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Brady in Tupelo, Mississippi listening on 102.9 told us: “I’m running windows vista business, it suddenly started playing snippets of audio and it looks like it coming from YouTube or from some other source, but it is using up 75% of memory. When I try to shut it down I get a “Dcom server process error” and it shuts the computer down a few minutes later, do you know what can be causing that?”
Brady, We’re sorry to have to tell you, but it sounds like you’re infected by some kind of malware.
“Dcom process error” is, apparently, a fairly common error caused by some viruses that hijack your computer for their own purposes. This doesn’t absolutely have to be the case, there’s a chance that it could be something benign failing, having said that, the fact that you hear some mysterious YouTube video playing in the background seems to support the virus theory.
It’s likely that someone is turning your computer into a zombie YouTube watcher to boost their own views. When YouTube displays ads on videos, they pay the uploader a small amount of money for each view the ad gets, and a little more money for every ad that is actually clicked.
The trouble is that YouTube will detect fraud pretty easily and close the uploaders account if a video has, say, 4000 views 3900 of which come from the same physical location, there have even been multi million dollar lawsuits against people who defrauded affiliate programs like theirs, sometimes through fairly sophisticated means.
That’s where the virus comes in, someone may be getting views from thousands of different locations by infecting computers like yours all over the world.
Try to run a virus scan and see if anything comes up, unfortunately, odds are something will.
If the virus scan turns up negative, we’d recommend also trying MalwareBytes Pro, a software program specifically designed to ferret out and remove malware. You can download the on demand version of their scanner for free from the website at malwarebytes.org.
We would recommend restarting Windows in safe mode before running the MalwareBytes scanner. Just click Start, type MSCONFIG into the Run box and press enter. Go to the Boot tab and check Safe Mode. Once you’re done scanning and disinfecting, reverse that process for a normal boot up.
If MalwareBytes helps you, you can buy an annual license for $25 and run the program resident, like an antivirus tool, to prevent infections in the first place.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Rita asked us: “Love your show even though I am really computer illiterate. I heard about the $40.00 tablets on one of your CES broadcasts and did not hear how to get them. Can you provide the website for me? Thanks.”
Rita, The company is called Datawind, and the tablets are called Ubislates. You can find them at Ubislate.us.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Ken Greenhill, Director – CellSentry
created a new mobile app that prevents distracted driving while texting
Jolene in Jefferson City, Missouri listening on KLIK asked: “MyVCR died, and I’m going through VCR withdrawals, What I need to know is can I purchase a DVR myself or do I have to go through my cable company?”
Jolene, You can purchase a DVR yourself, but it might still be a better idea to go through your cable company anyway.
A DVR is more than a device, it’s a service as well, someone needs to make that programming guide that you use to set the shows you want to record, and someone needs to keep it up to date, and you will be charged for that service whether it is by your cable company or by a 3rd party company like TiVo.
If you’re going to be charged the same either by a third party or by your cable company, you might as well go with your cable company just for the fact that if anything happens to your DVR, or if in a couple of years you decided to get a 4K DVR or any kind of new technology, they probably won’t make you pay $500 for a replacement.
If you were still using a VCR, you’re gonna love your new DVR regardless of how you get it though.
If you do choose to purchase a third party DVR, say from TiVo for example, you will need something called a CableCARD from your cable TV provider. This is the interface between the third party DVR and their cable system. Your cable TV provider is required to give you this free of charge by the FCC.
However, these cards generally lack the ability to provide two-way communication with your cable TV provider, which means that the On Demand service from the cable network would not be available. That’s a tradeoff that many people don’t want to make. Good luck!
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yos “A clever solution to tangled earbuds”.
Bits Limited: Mini Squids — Travel-Sized surge protected power strips
Datawind: UBISLATE 7Ci, 7” Android tablet with Wi-Fi, internal microphone and camera, and expandable MicroSD memory.
Dane-Elec: Mobile Junkie Media Streamer – Stream content from a flash drive or SD card to your Smartphone or tablet. (And, it also acts as a mobile charger!)
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!
Tylt: A plethora of USB charging cables for iPhone and Android phones and iPhone battery cases.