Product Review: Toshiba Regza 46” HD-ready LCD TV
Written by Michael Vass
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.
Products for new home owners
Written by Michael Vass
Since I have just purchased a new home, and being a first time home owner, I though I might share some of my experiences and product reviews with you. Hopefully these tips and impressions will help others that are starting out.
There are 2 products I want to mention right now. One is Murphy’s Oil and the other is the Task Force Reel Mower.
Murphy’s Oil is no new product by any means. There have been many commercials about the product and reviews going back decades. So I’ll be brief. If you have hardwood floors I recommend this.
My house is an old 1910 brick house. The wood is American Cherry wood. Being well preserved over the years the floors have held up well. But time and use wears on any surface. Yet, I can say that the dullness of the floors in my house disappeared with just one thin coat of the Murphy’s Oil diluted in water. I had previously swept the floors and then applied the Oil. The years seemed to just peel off and the luster of the wood came right out. You can see one example here
Another product that I bought was a lawn mower. I didn’t buy a gas nor electric mover, as my yard is not very large. I’d say it’s about 1/10th of an acre. Not a lot but enough in a urban setting. Considering the relatively small area, my age – 40 – and the fact that gasoline prices are high and going higher I picked a reel mower.
If you are not familiar with a reel mower, its a simple push manual mower. No gas or electric costs involved and good exercise. And for those that are into the whole save the environment idea it’s eco-safe. But they are expensive, or at least this one was.
I bought the Task Force mower. It was the only manual mower in Lowe’s and it cost $89. Not cheap but the recurring cost is non-existent really. There was minimal assembly needed, and I was able to put it together in about 10 easy minutes (including getting the handle bar on backwards).
The use of the mower is the real issue though. Does it work effectively. The answer is yes, definitely. There are 3 settings for the mower height. My grass had not been mowed in a couple of months and was about 12” in height. The mowewr went right thru the grass with ease. Of course there were a couple of spots where I had to go over the same spot more than once to get all the grass cut, and weeds have an annoying habit of bending, but it got the job done well. I recommend pushing the mover, then pulling it back and pushing again. This will generally get most grass and weeds cut.
One thing to keep in mind, watch your line. I mowed the back yard with precision. My front yard was a bit more difficult as there is a slight incline. I missed my line slightly and after raking noticed that I missed a couple of inches of a strip of grass. Not a big deal but not as nice as it all being level.
I have not used other manual mowers, but I can say this it’s effective and the cost really won’t go up. Also I found this bit of information online
So there you go. I hope it helps some new home owners out there.
Names Should be Attached to Reviews
I’m all for product reviews, service reviews and even doctor reviews. After all, that’s why 1800blogger started this blog. We allow people to market their reviews about all services, whether good or bad.
Unfortunately, the proliferation of websites which allow people to review products anonymously without at least an email verification is a dangerous practice. In fact, all product review sites should adopt some verification protocol that makes the person who reviewed something accountable. Unfortunately, these sites are in the content business and therefore, they have removed all registration barriers in order to gather as much content as possible. This is a problem.
I know a doctor who recently had his practice ruined by an overzealous patient who was allowed to band together with a few of her friends to literally ruin this person’s practice. Should she have been allowed to write her review? Yes, but when she recruited a few of her friends to write reviews on this doctor in which the friends had never visited the doctor, I have a problem with that. This doctor has literally been ruined after 12 years of training.
Look at it this way. If you owned a restaurant, should an anonymous patron of your restaurant who had a bad meal (even the best restaurants will serve a disappointing meal, it’s the nature of food) be allowed to post 12 bad reviews about your restaurant on a restaurant review site so that these reviews will be the dominating search result on the search engines? If the answer is no, then you’ll understand my hesitation about anonymous product reviews.
Code of Conduct for Product Review Blogs
As many of our readers know, this blog is owned by 1800blogger. 1800blogger currently owns hundreds of blogs. On a daily basis, we get requests to review products on our blogs for compensation. Whether it’s Male Fitness Blog or Auto Racing Blog, we get daily requests to review products from engine oil additives to gym equipment.
In some ways, high traffic blogs have more influence over consumer purchase patterns than mainstream media. Blogs have a huge commercial impact and therefore, bloggers should follow this simple code of conduct, especially if you are engaging in product reviews.
- Make certain that if you are compensated for your review, you disclose this to your readers. Although it’s not necessary to reveal the amount you are getting paid (exceptions for financial websites), you should disclose the fact that you are getting compensated.
- Use the product for at least 2 weeks before reviewing it. People usually go goo-goo over something new and your opinion may be very different after using a product for 2 weeks as compared to your initial observations.
- Don’t review a product if you have a personal bias or affinity to a product manufactured by a certain corporation. In other words, don’t review SammysCofeeHouse if this fictional company once put too much half and half in your company. Your predisposed opinion may affect your opinion about a new product.
- Do not read any product reviews about the product that you are reviewing before publishing your review. You are not a news reporter, you’re a reviewer.
- After publishing your review, send one to the company that is the subject of the review. A written response from the company may help consumers.
- Don’t use Digg Bombing or any bombing of the social networks to get your review seen. Everyone’s doing it, yes, but allow your review to receive a natural syndication around the Internet. In the end, consumers will appreciate it and your reviews will become more valuable. If you want to publicize it, publicize your review with a $99 press release.
- Finally, don’t fake your expertise. That doesn’t mean that you can’t review a beauty product if you’re not a beauty product expert but don’t go into the benefits of a chemical composition if you know nothing about it.
Aerosol Cool Whip Gets Great Reviews
Search “Cool Whip” on Google and you’ll get all sorts of interesting results including one site that claims that Cool Whip is lube. I was reading one website that says that Cool Whip gives a hell of a shoe shine. No, I’m not kidding!!. Introduced in 1967 by the Birds Eye Division of General Foods, it quickly became the best selling product in the division. Over the years, there have been other flavors introduced to satisfy consumer trends but all variations of the product have been sold in the plastic tub great for storing paper clips, rubber bands and buttons.
Now, meet Aerosol Cool Whip. Most consumers have said that the product looks exactly like real whipped cream but tastes exactly like regular Cool Whip from a tub. Rejoice mamas everywhere, no more thawing.
