Keefer Madness

I Made the News Yesterday

// April 3rd, 2013 // No Comments » // Health & Fitness, Local (Raleigh Durham), Personal Crap, TV Talk

Meant to post this last night after we got situated, but the Carolina Hurricanes game left me ready for bed and no more screen time.

Anyway, a group of us have been running at lunch. Yesterday, Ben and I just happened to be running by the WRAL camera when Elizabeth Gardner was talking about how chilly it was. That’s me in the bright yellowish green long sleeves and long pants she’s referring to.

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Two Services I Recommend Without Hesitation

// January 12th, 2013 // No Comments » // Tech, TV Talk

I’ve always used Keefer Madness to communicate reviews and to to tell you about times when we’ve had less than optimal service. But here are two that I have no hesitation in recommending.

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AVS HD709 HDTV Calibration Disc Review

// December 13th, 2012 // No Comments » // HDTV Bits, TV Talk

TV pretty much always look like crap out of the box. Calibration is a must. I’ve got a great calibration DVD, but never have had a way to calibrate HD. Going to give the mp4 version of this a try. Hoping using a direct connection to my iMac and to an Apple TV will allow this calibration video to help us get the most out of our HDTV’s.

AVS HD709 HDTV Calibration Disc Review

How Your New TV Ruins Movies

// August 28th, 2012 // 1 Comment » // Tech, TV Talk

I need to do the article below’s suggested search term for our household TVs. Though, I think I’m probably good, as I have a calibration DVD I typically run.

Check out your TVs though, and I’m going to double-check mine.

How Your New TV Ruins Movies

Pocket TV on Kickstarter

// June 12th, 2012 // No Comments » // Tech, TV Talk

Just read about this Kickstarter project, and wanted to share it, in hopes to get it a few more bucks. It’s basically a smart tv interface (Android OS) that fits on a little HDMI dongle. I’ll be interested to see how and if this progresses. Love all these miniaturization projects aimed at making TV better:

Pocket TV on Kickstarter

E3 2012: Microsoft SmartGlass Connects Xbox to iPhone, iPad

// June 4th, 2012 // No Comments » // Gaming, iPad, iPhone, Tech, TV Talk

This is something that can and will get some use in our household. Between this announcement and the recent announcement of Amazon Instant Video on Xbox 360, our Xbox 360 in the living room just got a lot more useful.

E3 2012: Microsoft SmartGlass Connects Xbox to iPhone, iPad

Samsung TV Capacitor Settlement Notice

// March 11th, 2012 // No Comments » // Tech, TV Talk

So happy I was surfing Engadget’s RSS feed this evening before bed.

For quite awhile now, our 42″ Samsung LCD takes a long time to power on. It clicks every couple seconds and eventually comes on. After Googling it to find out what possibly could be going on, I quickly found others with the same problem, including some pictures of the problematic innards of the Samsung sets.

Turns out Samsung used some crappy capacitors in some of their sets. Visual inspection of these capacitors often shows a visible swelling of the components. While the parts to change out are cheap and readily available, until recently, Samsung wasn’t footing the bill to do it. According to the link below, they’re now acknowledging the problem now after being hit with a class action lawsuit.

I’m now chatting with a very polite Samsung rep to see about getting ours fixed. Will update after I’ve got more info, but feel pretty confident that our TV is going to be covered (it’s the first model number in the list of affected sets and it’s definitely exhibiting the symptoms).

I just hope we get it taken care of before the TV goes further south.

I’m also hopeful I don’t have to solder in capacitors myself.

Only wish the same outcome were in the process for my third red-ringed Xbox 360.

Samsung TV Capacitor Settlement Notice

Bye Bye to Time Warner Cable (Again)

// February 3rd, 2012 // 2 Comments » // Personal Crap, TV Talk

So starting next week, we’ll be canceling Time Warner Cable again. They keep inching up their rates, their DVRs are complete and utter crap and overall I’m not a fan. I always liked being with DirecTV, and we’re going back there. They have a deal right now that discounts their packages for the first two years and you don’t have to buy equipment. The disadvantages of DirecTV — including the upfront costs aren’t there right now. So why not throw our monthly entertainment budget towards DirecTV, instead of to Time Warner?

I’ve never used a DirecTV DVR (other than those that ran the TiVo software), but they can’t be worse than the clunky crap that Time Warner’s running.

Sadly, we’ll still be giving Time Warner money for our Internet connection. For now, that’s our best option at home. At least we’re diverting our TV services away from DirecTV. I’m excited for the change, and definitely won’t shed a tear at turning in our TWC equipment in a little over a week.

Roku’s Tiny HDMI “Streaming Stick” to Bring Netflix, Hulu to Smart TVs

// January 4th, 2012 // No Comments » // Internet / Web, Tech, TV Talk

This sounds like a pretty [little] cool concept: a little memory stick that plugs into Smart TV’s HDMI ports to allow video streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Sadly, it won’t work with any old HDMI port. It’s got to be one that supports Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL).

The more I think of it, other than having small size, how’s this better than a normal Roku box or the already pretty small Apple TV 2.0? Sure, a memory-stick sized streaming device would eliminate a set of cords (a power and an HDMI), but other than that, not sure what its appeal or audience will be.

Roku’s Tiny HDMI “Streaming Stick” to Bring Netflix, Hulu to Smart TVs

DirecTV/TiVo (AKA DirecTiVo) HD DVR: Coming Thursday?

// December 7th, 2011 // No Comments » // TiVo Bytes, TV Talk

Hmmm, the old 250 unit on DirecTV was great. When they abanoned Tivo on DirecTV is when we switched to cable.

If it’s true that there’s another TiVo-branded DVR on its way to DirecTV, we may go back to DirecTV here in the Keefer household, though I’m over my early adopter syndrome. We will wait for this thing to be out on the market, thoroughly tested, a few software updates applied and reviews to be available.

Regardless, glad to hear TiVo is soon to be part of the satellite giant again.

DIRECTV/TiVo HD DVR: Coming Thursday?