Audio & Video

I've resisted harmony for a while. I was determined to make one of my multi-function universal remotes work with all devices, but everyone of them could not duplicate functions of at least one of my devices. So I caved in to the other side and spent the $98 at Costco for a Harmony 880 advanced universal remote control. Let me tell you - I have achieved harmony and home entertainment system control nirvana!

To all of those still on the fence, let me explain why all the rage about Harmony remote controls:

Even though the holidays have passed along with all those sales at big electronics stores - there are still some great deals out there. While searching for a good and inexpensive Bluray player for my home entertainment system, I've discovered an excellent deal at the local Costco.

Right now, most Costco stores have Sony BFP-BX2 bluray player for only $109!
Let me tell you why this is a good deal:

Many people have high definition flat screen televisions at home, hi-def cable or satellite service or a home theater that requires HDMI cables. The first thing we do is go to the store in hopes of finding a good quality cable at reasonable price. Then we come back angry and frustrated since the cheapest HDMI cable you can get from a national chain is a set of 2 cables for $30 at Costco. And that's not a bad deal on a quality cable since they are backed up by Costco's outstanding warranty and return policy.

But for those of us looking for very low prices and still same great quality - don't panic, there are a few options out there.

The first one is Overstock.com - you can find reasonable quality cables for as low as $3.50 - look at LinkDepot and Eforcity for slightly better cables than the rest. What you may get though, are the cables that work most of the time, but not 100% of the time. In fact, some of these cables exhibit a very strange behavior where you have to switch the ends in order to make them work. What is frustrating is that people are reporting some of these cable to stop working after a few months, or not carrying full 1080p stream with audio.

Second option is a "secret" of the audio-video community -MonoPrice.com. These guys specialize in cables, adapters, plugs and mounts. They don't just sell them at very low prices, but have them made to spec and often brand them as MonoPrice product. The quality of their cables is outstanding and the prices are very reasonable.By the way - if you need any other kind of cable - fiber optic, copper speaker wire, network cable - they got it. The problem with HDMI cables from monoprice.com is that they either have a ferrite cores or are very thick. The ferrite cores are not a bad thing at all as they help to minimize interference, but they are located really close to the end of the cable where it may become an issue when trying manage those cables behind your equipment. Same problem with the thick cables - if you are trying to locate your equipment in tight space or mount your TV on a wall - they will be really hard to route and hide.

The last and the best option - are the AmazonBasics cables from Amazon.com. The cables sold under the house brand are of suprisingly good quality, are thin enough to be managable, but not unwieldy. They also cost slighly more ($5 instead of $3.50)  than those from MonoPrice.com, but still so worth it. And, if you buy $25 or more from Amazon, the shipping is free and you don't get charged tax!

One point of concern is the specification of the cable. Anyone buying and HDMI cable today should be looking for 1.3a or 1.3b cables which are Category 2 certified. What these specs mean is that the cable was tested to reliably handle 1080p and higher resolution video as well as high-definition audio. Devices such as Bluray players, HDTVs, PS3 console, etc require such cables for the best picture and audio.

The first step was to get the F500BT and test it out. After having the unit for a few weeks I can highly recommend it to everyone - the system works great. I did do some modifications to it  by applying Maverick's customization pack posted at avic411.com.

I was searching for feature rich navigation system for quite some time. I had a few specific functions I was looking for and it just happens that most of the common systems avaliable for sale are lacking one or more of these features. Here is the list of what I want:

1) Good navigation - sounds trivial but a lot of the lower end units have very small databases of points of interest, outdated maps, poorly designed interface.

2) Factory radio integration - FM transmitters re finiky, unreliable and do not mute the sounds of your stereo system when navigation prompts sound.

3) BlueTooth - very important feature, esecially here in California where a first time ticket for cell phone use while operating a vehicle is $130. But the system also must be able to sync the contacts from the phone, so the driver doesn't have to fiddle with the phone in order to call someone.

4) Rear view camera - I drive a mid-size SUV with rather limited rear view. It would really help during parking on manuvering in tight situations to see how close you can backup and if there is anything behind the car.

5) Expandibility - features such as iPod integration, ability to read USB flash memory, SD memory cards, play audio, video, accept XM radio, MSN Direct, traffic updates, etc.