hdtv

Ikea has long sold affordable and attractively styled stands for TVs and home-theater components, but now it's taking things up a notch, integrating both furniture and electronics in an all-in-one system under its Uppleva brand.

The base unit comes with a "smart" 1080p LED TV, Blu-ray player, and 2.1 virtual surround system that includes a wireless subwoofer that can be positioned anywhere in the room. You'll then be able to customize the TV size and cabinetry and even change the color of the frame for the TV. Prices are expected to start at about $950 for an entry-level unit and TVs will range in size from 26 to 46 inches, which may not be quite big enough for some folks -- in the U.S anyway. The displays are reportedly being supplied by Chinese manufacturer TCL.

No word on exactly when Uppleva entertainment systems will hit U.S. stores, but they're set to roll out this June in in select stores in Stockholm, Milan, Paris, Gdansk, and Berlin, with more stores in Sweden, Italy, France, Poland, Denmark, Spain, Norway, and Portugal added in the fall. A broader release is expected for 2013. … Read more

Let's say you've had your HDTV for a few years now. Let's say you can't stop reading new TV reviews. Let's say you find excuses to stop at Best Buy to stare at the wall.

OK, you want a new TV. No problem. But do you need a new TV? Are the current models really that much better than what you have?

Let's take a look.… Read more

Remember when TV was free? All you needed was the airwaves to watch all your favorite network shows.

That's still true. In fact, with a decent antenna, you can tune in all your local stations in glorious high-def.

For many folks, that "decent antenna" has been the tough nut to crack. In my edge-of-suburbia neck of the woods, for example, I had to put a powered set of rabbit ears in my attic and run a cord through walls and floors to my TV -- hassle city.

Too bad I didn't know about the Leaf Indoor … Read more

When shopping for a replacement for my recently departed Toshiba TV, which died after just a few years of service, I paid a lot more attention to warranty. Sadly, few of the models I looked at offered more than the standard one year.

Too bad I missed out on this one: Best Buy has the Insignia NS-55E560A11 55-inch LED HDTV for $899.99 shipped, plus sales tax in most states. The only thing more amazing than that price is the warranty, which covers parts and labor for a full two years.

And if I'm not mistaken, you can stretch that an additional year … Read more

No hilarious jokes or personal anecdotes today. This is time-sensitive, so I'll cut right to the chase.

Today only, and while supplies last, Amazon has the refurbished Kindle Fire tablet for $139 shipped.

I'm reluctant to even post that deal, because I suspect it'll sell out before the morning is over -- heck, before I finish typing this paragraph. That's an insanely good deal on one of the best 7-inch tablets to date.

Update: Well, kudos to Amazon for having enough inventory to last most of the day...but as I expected, the refurbished Fires are … Read more

Flat-screen TVs have gotten cheap enough that it's possible to get two midsize TVs for the price of one bigger TV. A quick search of Amazon found that you could get two 46-inch plasmas for the price of one 52-inch LED LCD. Or, you could add a new, smaller TV to supplement the one you already have for only a few hundred dollars.

Why, you may ask? A better question: How (would you use them), and even more important, what do you need?… Read more

With all the incessant hoopla about the new iPad, the one comparison that keeps popping up is that its 2,048x1,536-pixel resolution is "greater than an HDTV!" or "1 million more pixels than your TV!"

Not only is this irrelevant and a senseless comparison, but it has no bearing on the future of HDTVs, as some have implied.

Here's why.… Read more

CNET Reader Kato asks:

I have speakers directly hooked up to my TV via the "speaker audio out." It works fine. I then hooked up additional speakers I had from a computer. Upon doing so the volume on the original speakers went way down and I get even less from the new speakers. What am I doing wrong?

Oh, so many things...… Read more

This is an update of a deal I wrote about last year.

Regular readers know of my deep fondness for Windows Media Center, which served as the hub of my entertainment center for many years. It's vastly underrated as a DVR; indeed, in many respects it's better than TiVo.

For a long while, the only available CableCard adapter (the vital component for watching and recording cable TV) was Ceton's InfiniTV 4--a great product, but expensive and compatible only with desktop PCs that had an available PCI slot.

Now there's an affordable, external solution. The Hauppauge WinTV-DCR-2650 … Read more