Electronics Stores

Customer Reviews:
Very, very good - but there are better choices
In the past six months, I’ve been fortunate enough to purchase two flat-screen TVs for different parts of my home, and one is the Sony XBR5 LCD TV. I find the picture and sound quality very good, especially on HD sources such as 1080p Blu-Ray. The HDMI and other connections work flawlessly. The controls are well done with easy-to-navigate menus, and all the technology Sony describes adds up to a really good product. Side by side against Samsung or other LCD competitors, I think Sony clearly has the best product.

I would leave it at that, however, the truth is that as good as the Sony is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the other TV I recently bought - a 50″ Pioneer 1080p plasma. While plasma may seem to be yesterday’s technology, I had a tight space that the Pioneer 5010HD fit perfectly, and so I went with it. Now, after several months of watching the plasma versus the Sony, I can honestly say that the LCD technology in the Sony has a long way to go before it catches the Pioneer’s picture quality. Indeed, after watching the plasma for any length of time, going back to the LCD is a bit of a let-down…by comparison, the Sony is harsh and grainy, with much poorer black levels and much less of a “film like” experience.

Yes, I give the Sony high marks for what it is - but I’d encourage anyone reading this review to take a long hard look at a similar sized high-end plasma unit before committing to the Sony.

Better Than Expected
I have been waiting for 2 years to join the flat panel, high def TV crowd. The thing that always stopped me was price, quality of standard def on a fixed pixel TV, and the number of high def stations to actually watch. Prices have come down and the number of high def stations has gone up so picture quality was left.

After researching it as much as I could, I got this TV. The floating glass perimeter with piano black surround looks sharp; I think much better than the XBR4.

On to picture quality: high def is fantastic as you would expect but standard def looks as good or better as a regular tube TV. It says in the owners manual that the picture is as good as the input. I have a satellite digial signal and get the results I describe. If you have cable or over the air then you may get different results.

Another thing I will mention is the remote has easy to use buttons on it to adjust the picture settings as well as the size. This means you can change the settings to the default picture settings for cinema, for example, which tweaks alot of calibrations on color, motion, etc. You also can easily toggle thru the picture sizes to stretch or unstretch the picture. I find the longer I have the TV the less I use these because I have found the ones I like best but it is nice to know they can be easily adjusted if desired.

Finally, I also got a Toshiba upscaling DVD player/recorder for about $130. It says it upscales DVD’s to 1080p and they do look fantastic. I may have to hook up a regular DVD player to see if there really is a difference but overall this TV has worked out great for my situation.

Good deal, fantastic picture quality, beautiful set.
This was a terrific buy. The price has dropped considerably at local stores, but the best deal was from Van’s with free shipping. We was able to track delivery all the way, and it came in a day early. It arrived in perfect shape and the driver even helped me bring it into my living room. I had to offer him a tip at least three times before he’d accept it.

We almost didn’t spend this much money on a flat screen based on what I looked at in the Best Buy showroom. This one is worth it. We have a brightly lit family room during the day, and it doesn’t get washed out at all. When we first tuned in to an HD channel our jaws dropped. HD channels are amazing and there’s enough of them now that we spend most of our time watching only HD programming. We have an older DVD player, but movie rentals and home movies look great. With the 16:9 aspect ratio it feels like we’re really watching a movie compared to just watching a movie on TV. There are a few artifacts and some of the older TV shows are blurry, but about 95% of what we watch is excellent. FIOS should fix these minor problems.

Setup was easy, about 30 minutes. To setup the TV you’ll want to connect your cable directly to the TV first, then connect it to your DVD player and the HD box you get from the cable company.

We’ve been able to watch an HD movie from my new laptop that came with an HDMI output. We’ve also been able to work on the laptop hooked up to the LCD TV using a wireless mouse and keyboard from the couch. At 1920 x 1080 pixels, I had to increase the font size in the browser but I was off surfing in no time.

The style of the TV is beautiful. We placed it in a Stanley Furniture Lincoln Park Plasma TV Bookcase and the combination is stunning. We bought the bracket to mount it, but when we set the TV in the bookcase on it’s own pedestal it was just fine. We love every aspect of it.

Not perfect, but there is no better LCD in the market
I owned the KDL-46XBR3 for a year, then I had an unexpected opportunity to replace it with the KDL-46XBR5.

If I thought that the XBR3 picture was amazing, the XBR5 is even better, much better. Movies get unprecedented realism, almost 3D. It is a visual experience I never had with any TV I ever watched.

Of course, a few analog channels look bad when stretched to 46″, but that is true for anyone upgrading from a 27″ low-def tube to an HD big fixed-pixel screen.

The XBR3’s menu was easier to use than the fancy XMB in the XBR5, and both sets have big but basic remotes which are not good for anything other than controlling the TV itself. No buttons for even cable box’s info, guide, page up/down etc.

And yes, its design is a stunner on the wall, when turned off.

Don’t forget to read the reviews for KDL-46XBR4, it is the same TV.

HD Heaven
Our old 27″ Panasonic finally gave up the ghost just before Xmas. After reading as many internet reviews as possible, I decided to take the plunge and purchase the pricey Sony KDL46XBR5. You know you have made the right decision when the installer is jealous of your set. Great picture, great sound, great televison. This is the standard by which all LCD’s are judged. I just wish there was more HD programming available. Saving up for my Blu-Ray player now.Sony KDL46XBR5 46″ BRAVIA XBR(R) series LCD Flat Panel HDTV

Customer Reviews:
It Works
I purchased this printer because I travel a lot and really liked the idea of not having to lug around not only a larger printer but a power adapter as well. It worked okay, but I really can’t say much more for it than that. The battery life was shorter than I expected (only got me through about 25 pages rather than 100) and the print quality was about what you would expect from a thermal printer — just adequate.

That said, I did not return it, as it is a great size and weight. As long as you don’t set your expectations too high and you’ll be satisfied.

Customer Reviews:
FALSE CLAIM… NOT WATERPORRF
I used this product for water fitness. As soon as I jumped into the pool water got into the otter box and ruined my ipod. The company does NOT stand behind their product,VERY POOR customer service. Had an “Oh well” attitude about my Ipod being ruined by their product. WOULD RECOMMEND STAYING CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY!! Go with H20 Audio instead!

poor
I used this product for lap swimming. As soon as I jumped into the pool water got into the otter box and ruined my ipod.

Durable, Highly Recommended
I have had my Otter Box for about 3 years. I have used it to shield my IPOD during my workouts, which occur 5-6 times per week. I have dropped my IPOD on the ground numerous times, and there was never even a scratch on it because of my Otter Box.

I must note that I have not used the Otter Box for swimming, so I cannot comment on its functionality for swimmers. I highly recommend as an IPOD Nano protector for workouts.

Great stuff and perfect service!
I have the otter box for over a year know and although I switch the ipod often between box and car, nothing happened yet! Only the audio jack got corroded after one year of intensive use (2-3 times/week) but I got a new one without any questions asked! Great service!

Great case, but heavy
I love this case. It does what it says. I only have two minor complaints. The case doesn’t allow you to use the nike ipod with it so if you run, that’s a drawback. It’s also a little heavy. I rubbed a “hot spot” on my back with daily use with running.

Customer Reviews:
polaroid
spent too much money at walgreens, so i ordered these instead. I can tell you i was not dissapointed.

Got an SX-70? You CAN use 600 film if..
Hi.. you might have an old Polaroid SX-70 camera (introduced around 1973 at a retail price of $300.00 to $350.00).. sitting in a drawer or closet that you haven’t used for years.. SX-70 film packs, which became Polaroid “Time Zero” film, have not been made for a few years.. and have vanished from stores.. about the only place to find it is at that huge online auction site i won’t name but you know who i’m talking about.. and Time Zero film sells for insane prices.. so you’re asking yourself, can i use Polaroid 600 film packs in my SX-70 camera?.. well the answer is yes and no.. first the no part..

600 film has an ASA speed of 600.. Time Zero film was two stops slower.. the SX-70 has NO film speed adjustment.. PLUS, 600 film packs, although they look identical to Time Zero film packs, also have some little metal tabs on them that Time Zero film packs don’t have.. which means you have to go through a song and dance just to get one to fit into an SX-70.. and then if you shoot pictures, they’ll come out totally washed-out and over-exposed because the SX-70 can’t handle the much faster 600 speed film.. so what to do?..

well, the SX-70 CAN be modified in a number of ways to let it use 600 film and expose it correctly for excellent results.. AND to get around those nasty little tabs on the 600 film pack cartridges so it slides right in just like Time Zero film..

so it’s both a physical modification to the camera, PLUS an electronic modification to its internal circuit board to fool its light sensor into using 600 film packs..

you can buy a Neutral Density (ND) filter that snaps on over the little light sensor window on the front of the camera next to the shooting lens, but that’s a “band-aid” solution, as the filter sticks out, preventing you from folding the camera back down unless you take the filter off..

you can hack the built-in light sensor window and install a round piece of plastic to change the light sensor’s behavior, if you have the nerve and the skills and the tools to do the physical mod yourself.. then you also have to do a physical mod to the film pack slot so a 600 pack will slide in, getting around those little metal tabs problem..

the ultimate solution is to have a pro make both an internal electronic modification to adjust the camera’s light sensor circuitry to be happy with 600 film, AND make the physical mod to the film-loading slot so the 600 packs slide right in just like good old Time Zero packs did.. this is what i had done to my Vintage 1973 SX-70.. it cost me $100.00 for these modifications, but i dealt with a local pro who has done it to hundreds of SX-70 cameras.. as Amazon probably doesn’t like reviewers linking to external Web sites, i’m not going to link to the site that belongs to the guy who modded my SX-70 for me.. you’ll have to do some searching around yourself, and you’ll find Web sites that explain how to do these mods yourself, as well as the site that belongs to the guy who did the mod for me.. since he was local to me, he picked up my camera, did the mods, and brought it back the next day..

then i went to a local store and bought a few fresh packs of 600 film, and this 35 year old camera now has a new lease on life.. it accepts the 600 film packs without any hassle, correctly exposes it, and i get excellent results, and at about $12.00 to $13.00 a pack, Polaroid 600 film is basically the same price as Time Zero film was years ago when it was in stores.. so you pay about $1.30 per shot..

if you visit polaroid.com and read their news area, you’ll learn that they are phasing out ALL their instant films (many like Time Zero are already long-gone).. and come the end of 2009, there won’t be ANY new 600 film produced any more.. so if you have one of Polaroid’s later, cheaper cameras like the One-Step, and you want to keep using it, stock up on 600 film while it’s still out there.. if you store it SEALED in its box in your refrigerator, it’ll extend its expiration from months to up to a year.. just don’t freeze it!.. and if you do store it in your refrigerator, before you plan to use it, take it out of cold Storage and let it sit at room temperature for at least two hours.. (this directly from the mouth of a Polaroid rep i just spoke with)..

if you want to use the still-produced 600 film in your old SX-70 (regular or Sonar auto-focus models).. you’ll need to modify the camera both physically and electronically, but if done correctly, 600 film WILL work correctly in a modified SX-70.. there’s no reason your former $350.00 camera has to spend the rest of its life as a paperweight..

if you want to keep using Time Zero film, you’ll pay as much for a couple of packs as a professional modification to the camera costs..

cheap prices
buying a twin pack of polaroid film on amazon is around half as expensive as it is buying it at CVS or other stores…. normally at CVS, a regular 600 film pack, (NOT a twin) is around $20. FOR TEN PICTURES!!!! ridiculous. go amazon, much cheaper.

Fresh well packed film
I purchased two, two packs of Poloroid Film. The film came extremely well packed, fresh and takes clear Poloroid pictures. Very happy with the purchase.

the film is great!
I bought this film along with a polaroid camera for my daughter and she is very pleased with it

Customer Reviews:
save your money
Tried this product but it would not work; too much static & would not make phone connection. Tried a different product & have had absolutely no problems

Wireless phone jack
This is probably a fine product, but I didn’t know anything about them and found that I needed the base unit in order to use this remote. I couldn’t wait another week or more, so I returned the product and purchased another brand locally. This RCA product was outdated so I couldn’t find a matching base…that’s the reason for purchasing another brand.

Buy at your own risk.
The product compatibilty is difficult to determine with existing Wireless Phone Jacks. I thought I read all the specs before I ordered it and I was still unable to use it. Buy at your own risk.

Worthless, picks up a lot of noise from household appliances.
This device did not work for me. They use the electrical wiring in your home to send and receive the sound signal. That electrical wiring can also carry a lot of noise from electrical appliances and even from light dimmers. In an apartment the noise is increased by all the electrical devices used by the neighbours, so in my case it was very noisy making the RCA adapters a total waist of money. I found a similar device that uses 2.4GHz and it works great for me. But the device called DualJack could potentially interfere with other 2.4GHz signals like a computer wireless land or even wireless phones, so far I have not had any interference. You have to try them and see what works for you.

VERY BAD PRODUCT
I bought this product to connect my Directv line. There is 25ft. between sender and receiver. All I get on my phone is static. I have tried SEVERAL locations in the room. I have tried to contact RCA (Thomson Inc.)all you get is a recording, you can’t get a live person. You can’t even talk to a technical support.

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!!