IR Repeater System - Hidden IR Control System for Home Theater Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Not sure what the other guy's problem was with this repeater...It works great! I originally wanted to get the HotLink Pro system based on the high number of reviews that it received, but I ended up getting this one as a Christmas gift. I tested it and it worked really well with no lag and good range, so I then proceeded to take the plunge and install it in my home theater setup. I was very concerned that there might be interference, as I have a 58" plasma TV on the wall...This was not a factor at all. I could not get this unit to fail by placing the IR sensor anywhere around my TV. It worked even slightly out of sight behind it...That said, the unit is installed just below the TV and center channel speaker. I have the system connected to the TivoHD, the Xbox 360, and my Onkyo amp and it has not skipped a beat. I would highly recommend this to anyone needing a good IR repeater, and is not necessarily concerned with hooking it up with no line of sight. Small obstructions do not affect my signal, but it does get over 30ft of range if the IR receiver is in sight. I was able to use my Harmony remote from outside on the patio with all of my devices neatly tucked away in my office. All this for half the cost of the HotLink Pro - Very happy indeed!

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Product Description:
This Advanced IR Repeater System is Easy to Install -1. Place the Receiver in your desired location. You can attach it to the location with the included double sided tape if you wish.2. Place the IR emitters on devices that you want to control. (Place them on the IR window on the devices) by peeling and sticking the emitters on the device.3. Plug the IR Reciever into the IR receiver jack on the IR repeater controller and plug the dual head IR emitters into emitter jack of the controller4. Mount the hidden controller in cabinet with the electronics and plug it in you are done.Working with Plasma and LCD Displays Although not designed to reject interference from plasma or LCD TVs, you can work around this by installing the IR receiver eye in an area that isn't exposed directly to the TV screen - at the back of a bookshelf, on the wall below or next to the TV - somewhere the eye can't "see" the TV image. Just make sure you still have a direct line of sight from the eye to your normal seating position. The Hidden IR System can be used in a room with a plasma TV or LCD display by installing the IR receiver in an area where it can't "see" the TV image - behind the TV or in a bookcase, for example.Additional information - Keep your home theater devices behind closed cabinet or closet doors, even when they're in use. The compact All-in-One IR System makes sure that all of your A/V components receive the commands sent from your existing IR remote controls, even without line-of-sight access. A small receiver can be placed near your television or mounted somewhere around your equipment cabinet, and this system will deliver your commands to up to 12 individual home theater components. It's easy -This home theater accessory is so easy to use; it sets up in minutes and requires no drilling or rewiring. Your friends will think you had a pro install it!

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Level Mount ELFP-07 Fixed Wall Mount for 26" to 50" Displays (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)The price on this wall mount had me a little skeptical about the quality. I took the chance and I was pleasantly surprised.

It's very sturdy, and the quality is very good. The built-in level worked perfectly. The instructions could be a little clearer, but the pictures help where the text falls short.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my purchase. It's a nice, strong mount that will last for many years.

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Product Description:
Level Mount ELFP-07 26-Inch X 50-Inch Fixed Flat Panel Mount

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Philips 52PFL5704D/F7 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)After owning this set for over a month, and spending a lot of time researching the best bang for the buck in the 50 inch and larger category, here are my impressions:

The only real compromise you will make in purchasing this TV versus the more expensive models is the contrast ratio, it just doesn't get as truly black as other far more expensive models.There are a few occasions when you will notice this: on letterboxed super wide screen Bluray content, and on some graphics on broadcasts and playing some parts of video games.But that's it...the dynamic contrast of this 52" Philips/Funai is certainly adequate for 98.3% of all other content.

Also note that the picture right out of the box is in no way representative of what this set can achieve.Out of the box settings are way too bright, the color is hyped, and the resolution was set to a mode that created scaling artifacts on a 1080i input.As soon as these were adjusted to more realistic levels, and the picture set to "unscaled", the screen quality came to life.

There are many controls for how the image is displayed, play with them to get close to what pleases your eye, and then write them down when you are happy.From there you can tweak up and down to achieve close to perfection.

I like my picture somewhat on the dark side (akin to the movie theatre experience) which also lowers power consumption.Here are some settings you can use as a starting point (Firmware version 13).Try these before calling in the expensive home theatre guy to calibrate your set:

Contrast 38
Brightness 67
Color 33
Tint 0
Sharpness 3
Temperature - Warm
Dynamic Contrast - On
Digital Natural Motion - On
Noise reduction - Off
MPEG noise reduction- On
Color enhancement - On
Picture Format - Unscaled
Vertical and Horizontal - Adjust to fit your source material so that the image fits perfectly into the screen.

Something no one has mentioned here is the ability to display your digital photos from a USB flash drive...the quality is phenomenal, the ultimate slide show!!You can also play music files from a flash drive.

Also, please note that this set has upgradable firmware. There is information on the Philips site for the latest version (correcting many of the issues that have been brought up in previous reviews) and the instructions for upgrading the firmware are in the manual.The set I purchased was already up to date as it was unboxed.

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Product Description:
The Philips 52PFL5704D 52 inch 1080p LCD HDTV combines a full HD display, Pixel Plus 3 HD engine and incredible surround sound from invisible speakers. The HD Natural Motion feature estimates motion in the picture and corrects the juddering movements in both broadcast and recorded movie material such as DVD and Blu-ray disc. This TV is easy to connect and enjoy with four HDMI inputs with Easylink for a full HD connection. This flat TV ensures brilliant design and powerful performance for years to come.

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Panasonic DMP-BD80 High Clarity Audio Blu-ray Disc Player, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)With the BD80, Panasonic has taken its popular BD55, with its excellent picture and sound quality, and added the ability to access online content via the new VIERA Cast feature.Currently VIERA Cast is limited to YouTube, Picasa online photo sharing, stocks and weather via "widgets" but Amazon's on-demand movie service will be available on the BD80 in May.Other internet-based content can be added by Panasonic over time, based on user demand (without the need for a hardware upgrade).

Overall, the BD80 works well as a multi-media player - they added a USB jack on the front for viewing photos, Divx and Xvid videos and listening to MP3 files.This is in addition to the SD card slot (and BTW, an SD card is still required for BD-Live).It would have been nice if the player supported MKV videos, WMV, WMA and M4P files, but I guess we can't have everything.Viewing YouTube is pretty straightforward - you can even log in to view your favorites - and it's nice to be able to do that without a PC connected to your TV.

For Blu-ray and DVD playback, the unit performs extremely well.It isn't the absolute best upconverting DVD player available, but it does a good job wringing detail out of standard def content.And it really shines as a Blu-ray Disc player with top-notch video and audio performance.The player decodes all of the latest surround sound codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, etc.) to multi-channel PCM and to multi-channel analog outputs (5.1 or 7.1-channel) for compatibility with older receivers and surround processors that lack the latest HDMI audio support.If you do have a newer receiver with HDMI audio support, then you can set the player to bitstream these soundtracks to your receiver for decoding.The player also offers standard coax and fiber optic digital outputs though these do not support the new codecs.

In addition to VIERA Cast and the USB port, Panasonic adds a new "High Clarity Audio" feature which allows you to turn off analog video processing if you're using HDMI for your video output (improving sound quality) as well as a new "3D NR" noise reduction feature for cleaning up noisy Blu-ray and DVD transfers.

It's too bad Panasonic could not improve the load times for Blu-ray and DVDs.As it is, they're pretty much identical to the BD35 and BD55.But at least they did provide a "Quick Start" mode which allows the player to power on/boot up quicker than its predecessors.Even still, the player is a bit slower to load discs than the latest offerings from LG and Samsung.

For those who don't need the multi-channel analog outputs or Divx support, the less expensive DMP-BD60 may be a better choice as it offers the same audio and video processing as well as the same VIERA Cast feature.

Overall, the BD80 is a solid performer. I would have liked Panasonic to include an SD card in the box for BD-Live access (as well as an HDMI cable, instead of those silly composite video/analog audio cables), and it would have been nice to have a Wi-Fi option, instead of requiring a hard-wired Ethernet cable for internet access, but Panasonic is not the only vendor who omits these things.While the online content offerings are currently a bit light and the operational speeds are only average, the excellent audio and video performance and flexible media playback options make this a strong contender in the 2009 Blu-ray model line up.

You can view our more detailed review on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com).

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Product Description:
Panasonic, Blu-ray Player,7.1 Audio out,1080P HDMI output

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Sharp Aquos LC32D44U 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I have both this TV as well as a Samsung LN-T2642H. It's very interesting to compare the two TV's performances. If you want the more balanced natural look, go with Sharp. If you're more interested in a vivid, colorful image go with Samsung. I also did an extended look at the Toshiba 26HL67.

There is a key difference between the panels Sharp uses compared to others. Sharp's TVs are made with panels called S-IPS while Samsung, Sony and Toshiba currently use a panel called S-PVA. This has everything to do with why Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have very strong color but one thing I noticed about Samsung is that when you look at it for a slightly low angle, the color gets darker and starts to invert. If you look it from above, the color gets lighter and starts to invert. With the Sharp, no matter what angle I look at it, the color doesn't change AT ALL! This is very impressive and cool!

I also notice that when I played around with the TV settings, it doesn't need much to look good, it almost always does. When you turn on the Active Contrast mode on the Sharp (it's equivalent to DNIe), it doesn't totally knock out the details in darker areas. At first, I had to keep checking to see if it was on or not because I was so used to the way the Samsung crushes black details even on the Low setting. Once again, I was more impress with the way this TV addresses contrast in fact I think the Sharp does a better job with contrast because of its black color.

The Sharp's black color is closer to black than the Samsung. The black color on the Samsung is more of a dark blue even on Warm temperature (it's especially noticably at slight vertical angles) but with the Sharp the black was much closer to real black.

The speakers on the Sharp doesn't distort at volume levels higher than 30. With the Samsung, when u turn the volume up pass 30, the bass tends to distort the fidelity of all the sound resulting in a buzz. This is probably due to the build of the unit and the lower wattage for the speakers. Sharp doesn't sound perfect either but it's definitely warmer and clearer at high volumes thanks to having 10 watts per speaker instead of 5. I would recommend everyone to get a 2.1 speaker for any LCD TV though. Take advantage of those sound outputs on the back of your TV! :) It definitely takes your experience to a higher level!

One minus I have with the Sharp was that it didn't have a headphone jack.

Overall, I think this is an excellent 32" TV. Sharp is definitely worth a look and probably my new LCD manufacturer of choice. It doesn't need as much tweaking when you switch between uses. I tested both TVs with PC (via DVI>HDMI), Xbox 360, HDTV, SDTV, HD-DVDs and upconverted DVDs. With the Samsung, I find myself always tweaking the settings between uses like changing the Energy Saving level, turning up the Digital NR for SDTV, turning it off for everything else, toning down the DNIe.

Thanks to Sharp's OPC, the backlight adjust very intelligently based on what's on the screen. I just leave the Active Contrast on because I know I'm not missing out darker details, the picture is very sharp and the panel is slightly faster thanks to the 6ms speed, which equals less motion blur with things like text and more solid image overall.

This Sharp is the real deal and reminds me much more of a CRT than the Samsung because the Samsung requires too much twinkering to get things comfortable. I think if the Samsung's black was more like true black and the vertical angle didnt distort so much I wouldn't tweak it as often.

So in summary, if you want the most vibrant colors and don't mind tweaking between uses by all means get a Samsung. (I still like the Samsung and would give it a 4 out of 5)

If you want a more, natural looking picture, that doesn't offer or require as much tweaking because it just plain looks good, go with a Sharp.

I think Toshiba and Sony TVs tend to do a better job with black crush and black color than Samsung but since the panels are the same technology (S-PVA), they still have the vibrant color and probably some vertical viewing weirdness.

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Product Description:
The elegant AQUOS D44U Series easily enhances the decor of any family room, living room or den. With a true 16:9 aspect ratio, HDTV resolution of 1366 x 768, and breathtaking color purity, it is a next-generation TV to carry you into the high-definition future. The D44U Series utilizes Sharp's proprietary Advanced Super View/Black TFT Panel providing 7500:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, 6ms response time and wide viewing angles (176°H x 176°V). Both models are HDTV's with built-in ATSC / QAM / NTSC tuners and include 2 HDMI and HD component video inputs as well as a D-sub, 15-pin input for PC compatibility. The D44U Series features a black cabinet and the included table stand easily removes for wall mounting applications. Features: 16:9 ASV LCD Panel from Sharp's state-of-the-art Kameyama factory producing 7500:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio and 6ms response time. True 16:9 wide-screen aspect ratio with 1366 x 768 HDTV resolution. Wide Viewing Angles (176°H x 176°W) Sharp's AQUOS LCD TVs viewing angles are so wide, you can view the TV clearly from practically anywhere in the room. PC Input conveniently turns your TV into a PC monitor. Enhanced Color Filter uses finer points to achieve higher throughput, enabling deeper, more vivid colors and 150% higher contrast ratio. High Brightness (450 cd/m2) AQUOS LCD TVs are very bright. You can put them virtually anywhere - even near windows, doors or other light sources - and the picture is still vivid. Built-in ATSC / QAM / NTSC Tuners provide access to DTV and analog TV channels.

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Hot Link Pro Remote Control Booster System Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)To all:
Thank you for your interest in this feedback forum for Hot Link Pro.
Following are some answers to the problems, questions, and suggestions that have appeared on this forum.

We make every effort to make certain clients can contact us with support questions. The web site and phone number are molded into the bottom of every unit. In the case of this forum we have yet to make contact with those who have had less than a stellar experience with Hot Link Pro.

Hiding the Eye:
We intend no holes to be drilled for the Eye to see through. There is a Velcro Kit and a screw tab for mounting the eye. This screw is meant for non-visible, internal surfaces, not the outside of a cabinet.
Hot Link Pro does not work "hidden behind a cabinet door", it works great behind a cabinet door "slot". It also works on the back of flat panel displays, behind speaker grills and cabinets. It does not need direct line of site. The Blue LED is separate from the Eye so that the Eye may be hidden while the LED may be mounted in a visible location.

Compatibility:
Hot Link Pro is the most compatible IR repeater available. Works with all IR remote controlled DVRs, Sat Boxes, DVD players, CD players, Xbox, etc. It works with all the new 58Khz carrier based gear like Scientific Atlanta 8300, the new AT and T VIP1200, Hughes, Motorola, HR20, etc. It even extends IR Keyboards and mice.
Only a few devices that use 455Khz carriers will not work. Some Kenwood high-end receivers and a couple of Sony high-end "ES" receivers. And a few older pioneer Elite Receivers.
Many professional installers prefer Hot Link Pro to multi-piece systems because it is broad band, works better with flat panel displays and does not need to be visible like other IR repeaters.

Reliability/Quality:
Hot Link models have been in the field for 15 years with extremely few failures. When something does go wrong, we repaired or replaced units for free. Even when the customer cut or removed or damaged parts. While Hot Link Pro will not work if an emitter is cut off, the warranty is not void if a client splices and extends the emitter for the purposes of running it to a ceiling mounted projector. (Usually with great success.) Total overall failure rate is less than 1/4%.

Rugged Design:
When the emitter wires peel apart they do not damage the wire. It is our specification that the wires not tear the insulation while being separated. Consider the alternative, 7 connectors which reduce reliability, and 7 individually bundled wire sets.The whole product uses about a ¼ of a watt, lowering the risk of damaged components from heat, over time.

Remove-ability of Emitters:
Emitters on Hot Link Pro apply with high-grade 3M thick clear tape that is easily removable and replaceable and does not harm plastics. Place thumb and finger on opposing side corners at the lower part of the tape and peel up emitter and tape together. Or push sideways to break adhesion. Using foam tape as suggested on this forum has 2 other consequences: Heat inside cabinets often causes these tapes to fail especially "removable" tapes. Also heat and age cause some foam tapes to stiffen making removal difficult, possibly scratching the surface of AV equipment. Much research has gone into the tape selected for Hot Link Pro. We offer free replacement tape on our site.

The plasma/LCD compatibility question:
Sometimes the "noise" causing the blue LED to stay on is from another source in the environment like a laptop LCD screen or compact high efficiency florescent lamp.
Hot Link Pro has worked with almost all plasma TVs with the known exception of 60 and 61 inch Plasmas and the Sharp Aquos 37 inch LCD NTSC model. Even though Hot Link works with the Aquos 42 and 45 inch and the smaller Aquos LCDs.The 37-inch NTSC model emits to much IR radiation for most IR repeaters to function properly. Hot Link Pro will work with the IR and RF- noisy Sony XBR series.
The 60 and larger plasma displays will work if an Eye with Y Kit is used with the Hot Link. Recommended Eye mounting procedures will be on our site. Noise indication during warm-up of LCD TVs is easily mitigated. Turn on LCD TV after cool down. While standing to one side so as to not add local reflection, place the Eye on the back of the TV and roll it until the Confirmation LED turns completely off.

Since an IR repeater must be broad band and many of the frequencies that cause noise are very near the remote frequencies, multiple direct frequency filtering is actually less effective than power vector filtering accomplished by mounting the Eye in a hidden location. The energy in the vector of the remote going forward is greater than the vector of the noise of the TV reflecting back toward the TV.

Doors open and not functioning properly:
The Hot Link Pro does work with the doors open as well as closed, unless noise is not mitigated or if the LCD or Plasma TV are sending out IR noise directly to the AV gear and affecting remote performance.

Remote To Eye Distances enhanced:
Hot Link Pro enhances useful distances of remotes. Comments to the contrary are often because of not mitigating noise or misplacement of emitters. In the case of the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD which has poor IR range to start with, distance is often enhanced when 1 to 5 layers of masking tape are placed between the Hot Link Pro emitter and the 8300HD IR receiver eye.

We make every effort to make installation as easy as possible with the recognition that some installs are easier than others and we provide great customer service to help with the trickier installations. Please call us for help at 800-999-8846.

At your service,
Marcus, Microsmith Inc.

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Product Description:
Complete single box solution for local IR repeatingNo drilling! Does not need direct line-of-sight; IR eye can be hidden behind display cabinet speaker grill or wall plateDoubles useful distance of remote controls up to 70'Repeats signals from 18KHz to 120KHz for 6 components using "thick-stick" emittersCompatible with virtually all flat panel displays when mounted on backSuperior IR reception without attachments to remotes batteries to charge unsightly antennas or radio noiseFor distances over 200' use Hot Link XL (HLXL)Expandable with emitter kit EMTX6Eye extendable to 25 feet with HLCBL-25Includes power supply and mounting kit

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LG 32LH20 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV, Gloss Black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had my new LG for a week and I'm thrilled with it.We bought this T.V. to replace an older 19" CRT for the den, where my wife and I end up watching T.V. in the evenings because the kids are doing homework or entertaining in the room with the big HDTV.The picture is so crisp, and the colors so vibrant, that I find myself looking for excuses to turn it on and watch it.I'm afraid to admit it, but I may actually prefer my new 32" LG to my 60" Sony!I liked the swivel base, so I was choosing between this set and a Samsung at the same price point.The pictures were very, very similar in quality, but I chose the LG because it was a newer model than the Samsung, and the Samsung was really at the low end of the Samsung line, while this LG is more in the middle of the LG line.The picture was great out of the box, although the T.V. is packed with features allowing you to tune and tweak the picture settings to your heart's content.I'm also very happy I didn't spend more money for a 1080p set.At 32" the 720p resolution looks awesome, so I can spend that extra $150 on something else. Add to all the above the fact that the set looks fabulous sitting in its cabinet, and you have a great value.Thanks LG!

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Product Description:
32" LCD TV HD 720p (1366 x 768p) resolution, 30,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, ATSC/NTSC/Clearn QAM - 1 Tuner, XD Engine, 178 True Wide Viewing Angle, SRS TruSurround XT, Invisible Speakers, Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder, 2 HDMI, includes swivel stand

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