Things That Work—Electronics

I like electronic things. I’m not into computer gaming, but I do like computers, and the things that go with them. For the record, I do not have an iPhone and I just started texting.

I’ve had satellite television for years; formerly DirectTV and now Dish Network. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Dish Network used to have cruddy customer service, but they have done a complete turnaround on that. I’m sticking with Dish because of two reasons; their DVR is superior to those offered by DirectTV and their signal is not as easily knocked out by rain.

I’ve also used satellite radio and enjoyed it for a year or two. I started with Sirius. A good signal, excellent music, very good sports and news. After a couple of years I signed up for XP and paid a year in advance. Three months into the year, I begged them to please cancel my subscription. Their music is horrible. At least that’s my opinion. They offered to extend my subscription so I would get two years for the price of one. I told them, “No”. They refunded the remainder of my subscription and I’ve not used satellite radio since. I think I would really enjoy satellite radio if I did a lot of traveling. I don’t know what it is like since the two networks merged.

We have a Sony Bravia LCD 1080p television. The unit I bought over three years ago has yet to miss a beat. I paid several thousand dollars for it then. The same unit now sells for less than a thousand. There are newer models with advanced features. I’ll have a newer model someday, but my Sony LCD gets an excellent picture so I’ll stick with it for the time being.

I have a Sony DVD player which is OK for watching movies. Yes it will play music too, but it doesn’t do what I want in a music CD player. It will not allow me to play songs in random sequence.

So I purchased a Pioneer CD player that uses the six disc cartridges. It’s low tech but it does what I want and I can recommend it if you think you need a separate CD player.

A year or so ago, I purchased a new Pioneer receiver which can produce 7:1 sound and THX sound. It works just fine. A word to the wise, you need to make sure your speaker system is as good or better than your receiver or you won’t get to use the full range of features on the receiver. I’m happy with my receiver, but still would like to know how an Onkyo system would sound.

Late last year I purchased a Bose Acoustimass 16 speaker system. It has been a delightful addition to my entertainment system. If you are playing a DVD with THX sound, the system just absolutely ROCKS. I have found the speaker system to be quite versatile and very competent with every genre. I can recommend it without reservation.

About a year ago, I purchased an IPod. I only use it for music. It does what it is supposed to do. It downloads MP3 sound, stores it and plays it back. I can use it in my car and have enjoyed that feature. It beats carrying a bunch of CD’s around. I can plug it into my computer at work and listen to music. I can also plug it into my home entertainment system by using one cord which plugs into the IPod and splits into a left/right connection at the other end. So while others are listening to their music on a device made especially for an IPod, I’m listening to my IPod music on a genuine top notch system. Overall, the IPod is a good purchase but the proprietary program one must use to download music sucks, sucks, sucks. I don’t know if “download” is the correct term. The only music I have on my IPod is from my own CD collection, but I have to upload them to ITunes and then download them to my IPod. It’s not much fun

As far as computers go, I think most of them are plenty good unless you need something for massive problem solving, engineering, or gaming. We have two Dell desktops and two HP laptops that work fine for us. There are two ancillary items I think are worth mentioning. I have an “old” HP stand alone scanner that does a great job on photos and documents. It has been a very useful tool. The other item I think is worth a purchase is an external hard drive unit. We have a Seagate unit that gives us plenty of back up capacity. The external hard drives are relatively inexpensive and very convenient if you are dealing with a lot of files. Get you one.

We have had several compact digital cameras. I have found the best pictures come from a Canon. At least that’s my opinion. I currently have a Canon PowerShot SD990 IS which has 14.7 megapixels. It also has all the bells and whistles you can get with a compact digital. It takes an excellent picture. I have often been complimented on the detail. But, that model is just a bit larger than a real compact should be and is very difficult to use if you are shooting on anything other than an automatic mode. So, it’s great for picture quality, but otherwise not recommended by me. For that type of product, I would go with a full sized “35” mm style body with detachable lenses.

Well that’s it for electronics. Yep, I know I’m not the most advanced person, but I do know what I like and what sound I want to get and the items mentioned above do a fine job for me.