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May 27, 2008
17 Hours Per Week In Your Car?
According to a recent Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) press release a typical American driver spends almost 17 hours in their vehicle, over 2 hours per day. 
Besides driving, drivers are listening to MP3s, CDs, radio, talking on their cell phones. Whenever I am in my car I always see a few drivers that should be devoting more of their of attention driving than taking part in these other activities. I have even seen a few people reading while driving.
I work from my home and live in a small city - Knoxville, Tennessee - so my drive time is much less. But a few years ago I worked for a large corporation and lived in a much bigger city - Atlanta - and had a tough commute. I probably averaged well over 17 hours per week just going to and from work.
I know quite a few contractors that almost live in their trucks. They are constantly going from job to job, meeting with realtors, suppliers and sub-contractors. Many of these folks probably spend much more than time in their vehicles than the average.
How much time do you spend in your vehicle per week? And, besides driving, what are you doing?
Posted by Bob Gatton at 7:17 AM
May 19, 2008
Choosing the Right Universal Remote Control
I have written a several articles over the last few years about universal remote controls. I think that they are often an overlooked item in any audio video system. What good is great sound and picture if controlling the system is difficult. Life is too short to be juggling multiple remote controls.
There are universal remotes that cost from under $50 to over a thousand. But which one is for you? A great source for finding the right remote control is Remote Central's 'Clicker Picker'. The the first section of this resource you answer 
nine simple questions, such as how much do you want to spend, how many devices do you want to control, etc.
In the second section you are asked, "How should I interpret your requirements?"
- make an educated guess.
- Place higher importance on adherence to my specific requirement.
- Force strict interpretation of all requirements (not recommended for beginners).
I disagree a little with the folks at Remote Central in this area. I think that using the 'force strict interpretation' works well even for beginners. For example, if you want to spend $60 or less for a universal remote, and you select the either of the first two options, you will be shown remotes that cost more than $60. This can be great if you want to explore a greater variety of options, but many will exceed your budget. I recommend doing a couple of searches using the 'forced strict interpretation' and 'make an educated guess'.
The third section asks for your preferences for other options. If you are looking for a basic remote, you can usually skip this section.
After you have narrowed your search down to a few remotes you can compare them, and for most of the remotes on this site, read a review.
All of these remotes will need to be programmed to work with your system. On most, it is a relatively straight forward process. But on some of the more sophisticated remotes there is definitely a learning curve. Only One Remote is a company that can program your remote for you. Not cheap, but they do very good work. They focus on Marantz, Philips Pronto, RTI and Universal Remote controls.
Do you have a universal remote control? Would you recommend it to a friend? How difficult was it to program it?
Posted by Bob Gatton at 2:01 PM | Comments (2)
May 12, 2008
Recycling, Selling or Donating Your Old Electronics
More and more consumer electronic products are being sold every year, some of it with relatively short lives. Many folks get new cell phones and MP3 players every few years. And with the transition to digital-only broadcasts in February next year, there will be more and more old analog TVs that will no longer be used. (yes, I do know that you can buy a converter box so you can still use your analog TV after the transition, but many are purchasing new televisions.)
You shouldn't just throw away these products. Besides filling up land fills, many contain toxic materials such as lead, cadmium and beryllium.
OK what do you do?
Sell
Your trash might be someone else's treasure. A couple of years ago I ebayed over 30 pieces of old audio video and computer equipment. I really was amazed how much some of the stuff went for. It didn't end up in a landfill and I put a few $ in my pocket.
Donate
For computer equipment you might want to check out The Cristina Foundation. For over 20 years they have matched companies and individuals that that have unwanted computer products to charities, schools and public agencies that can use them.
Goodwill, The Salvation Army and other local non-profits often welcome donations of electronics products. I always call before I lug it.
If you donate or sell a computer, you should use a 'disk wiping' program to totally erase files and programs from the hard disk drive. There are many of these programs available (some are free). Try searching 'disk wiping' on google or download.com
Recycle
The best source of information that I have found for where to recycle your old electronics is the Environmental Protection Agency. Click here for an extensive list of links for recycling and donations.
Or do a google search for your town and recycling. Searching "Knoxville Tennessee Recycling" generated multiple places where I could take unwanted computers and electronics in my area.
What do you do with your old electronics?
Posted by Bob Gatton at 2:02 PM | Comments (3)
May 5, 2008
Game Over - Blu-Ray wins vs. HD-DVD
In January Warner Brothers announced that they would stop supporting HD DVD and sell Blu-Ray movies. Then in February, Toshiba threw in the towel and announced that they would stop shipping HD DVD players. The format war is over, Blu-Ray won.
I have both a Blu Ray and an HD DVD player and they both work reasonably well. There will be no more new movies for the HD DVD player, but I only spent $99 on the Toshiba HD DVD player, and I got five free movies HD DVD movies from a Toshiba mail in rebate. It is a decent player, I don't feel too bad about making the purchase.
I have a few friends that have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a winner in this format war. Several have purchased a Blu-Ray player in the last few weeks, but Blu-Ray players are still a bit pricey - $399 and up is the typical street price. After Christmas there were a few sales for entry level players at $299.
Now that the format battle is over are you going to purchase a Blu-Ray DVD player? If you have an High Definition television what are you waiting for?
- cheaper players? If so, what is the price price are you holding out for? Under $300,under $200, under $100?
- better players with more features? If so, what features?
- more movies on Blu-Ray?
- cheaper movies?
or, you don't care about higher resolution movies on a disk. High Definition programs and movies from cable, satellite or from an antenna are what you are interested in.
Posted by Bob Gatton at 10:46 AM | Comments (6)
