TV & Home Theatre

  Sony has taken an entirely new approach to their TV design for 2014, and they are bucking the trend. Their competitors have made their sets slimmer and slimmer, and some even added a curved profile instead of flat. Instead, Sony launched their innovative wedge design earlier this year at CES. I like the fact that Sony hasn’t simply followed the trend because the wedge design is not just aesthetically appealing, it also has a number of other functions that actually improve the TV.

    Samsung is the de-facto leader in LED TVs and have produced some of the best TVs in the market. Their 6000 series over the last couple of years has been extremely popular, and for good reason. But how does the sexy new H8000 curved LED TV compare to the tried-and-true and continuously improving 6000 series? The H8000 is undoubtedly the future of home entertainment while the 6000’s are the proven technologies and quality products that are in so many living rooms. It is hard to go wrong with Samsung, but what gives with the new H8000 vs. the not so new?

  Google’s Chromecast media streaming device, which lets you display content from your Web browser or mobile device app on the TV, is finally here at Best Buy!

      Until now, if you wanted a large-screen curved TV you had to buy an OLED set at a premium price. Samsung has just launched their line of LED HDTVs and UHD TVs with curved screens and a ton of other features. Samsung’s H8000 series are their high-definition curved TVs, and their HU9000 series are their 4K UltraHD curved screen TVs. Samsung is always striving to stay ahead of the curve, no pun intended, and these fantastic TV’s will do just that.

  Sound bars have become the most popular way to improve your entertainment sound experience because they are reasonably inexpensive, simple to setup, and don’t take up much room. TV speakers are small and flat so they just can’t cut it, so a sound bar is a great way to get better sound. The good news is that there are a lot of bars to choose from, but how do you choose? Here are the factors that I think you should be considering in your purchase.

Logitech has been a long time leader in providing excellent universal remote controls. They provide such a wide range of universal remotes that you are sure to find the ideal remote for your entertainment system and budget. At the top end of their line is the Harmony Ultimate, which has amazing capabilities – in fact more than the average person will likely need. Logitech just introduced welcome additions to their lineup with the Harmony Ultimate One and the Harmony Smart Keyboard. They are both priced much more favourably than the Harmony Ultimate but have everything you will likely need. I got a chance to test them both so here is my full report.

    I recently posted on what to look for when buying a new TV, which made me think it might be helpful to explain some of the TV terminology that you will encounter in your search. There are a lot of TV technology terms out there, but I will discuss those that I think are more important when evaluating TV’s.

    Roku recently announced the launch of their new streaming stick, which looks similar to the Google Chromecast dongle so I researched both and wrote a  comparison of the two, to figure out which one is better.  In my opinion they are both good, but felt the Roku Streaming Stick is a better value device. I now have my hands on one of the first Roku Streaming Sticks and can provide you a proper review to let you know if it lives up to those expectations.

  Sonos has been a leader in wireless modular home speaker systems that can deliver music throughout your home.  They have been the leader in this market because it is their singular focus. They have excellent products like the Sonos Play 1 and the Sonos PlayBar, which we reviewed earlier. But there are other excellent wireless systems, like Bose Soundtouch, that have entered this market. Sonos has recognized they need to continue innovating if they want to maintain its lead position, so they overhauled their app that controls their home wireless systems, making some major improvements that you can’t get anywhere else.