Sony KDL-20S4000 - 20” Widescreen Bravia HD Ready LCD TV - With Freeview
Sony KDL-20S4000 - 20” Widescreen Bravia HD Ready LCD TV - With Freeview
with Integrated Digital Tuner
Customer Review: Very good all rounder
I too looked at this telly in comparison with the Samsung model, as a replacement for my 17-year-old Sony Trinitron bedroom TV. Comparing the two side by side in the local Currys my perception was that the Samsung had the better picture quality; however this may have been due to the signal in the shop or the slightly smaller picture size of the Samsung. Anyhow, I decided on the Sony due to the easy-to-use EPG for the digital tuner; my Sony set-top-box I use on my outdated CRT TV has proved excellent in this respect, and I hoped that this would be carried over to the in-built tuner.
Consequently ease of use and functionality are excellent, with a simple EPG which shows all channels and whats on now and over the next 2 hours. Brilliant. There are a couple of things I’m not too keen on, rather than taking up linespace I’ve compiled a list of pros and cons.
Pros
- EPG functions, best one I’ve used.
- Picture quality (when it warms up)
- Sound quality
- Sony reliability (if my 17-year-old previous telly was an example)
Cons
- Selection of a channel from the EPG also prompts a ‘tune’ or ‘record’ function. This seems unnecessary if it’s the current program, imho, I’d rather have direct access.
- Colours are a bit too bright for me, and there is no colour adjustment, apart from a three-position setting.
- It seems to take a while to ‘warm-up’ to the best picture.
- The quoted viewing angle is 178degrees, true, but at the extremities the picture is (at best) washed out. View full-on if possible!
These are all a bit nit-picking, and shows how good the overall performance of the TV is. Recommended!
Customer Review: Well worth the money!
I too (bizarrely) was also using a Samsung 17″ LCD TV connect to a freeview box and an XBox 360. Sound was pretty bad and the picture wasn’t great with red colours showing up with this lattice pattern…
Roll on this new 20″ HD TV and goodness! The 360 goes in via component now (rather than through the RCA plugs) and its like a breath of fresh air! That and the fantastic inbuilt digital tuner with DVB so you can always see what’s on.
It also has a PCMCIA slot in the side, so if you decide you want to buy one of those Pay As You Go TV cards, you can use one, or hook up any HDMI device to the back of it.
Oh and wall mounting it took all of 10 minutes.
All in all a fantastic HDTV! Go buy one now! I didn’t buy one from here, but rather from a local dealer for ?369.99 down from the RRP which is ?480. When I saw Amazon’s price I almost wept… Ah well..!
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Rio Grande hand ferry evokes lost age on U.S. border
LOS EBANOS, Texas (Reuters) - A trip across the Rio Grande on a hand-operated ferry is a brief one. It covers about 70 yards but it takes you back 70 years to a different era on the U.S.-Mexico border. Able to fit three cars plus a few passengers, the
Mstand Laptop Stand By Rain Design 
Designed to uplift, mStand is made of a single solid piece of aluminum that matches Apple’s MacBook Pro’s sandblasted and silver-anodized finish. Working on a laptop can strain the eyes, neck, back, and arms. Prolonged strain may lead to health problems or injury. mStand raises the screen to meet eyelevel for better posture and view. It also raises the screen to the same height as external displays, such as the Apple Cinema Display. The tilt design brings the screen closer and improves airflow around the laptop. The single-piece aluminum design provides solid stability and the aluminum panel cools laptop by serving as a heat sink. With an external keyboard and mouse, mStand transforms your laptop into a stable and stylish workstation that you can work comfortably and safely at every day.This product is designed for the following systems:Apple MacBook;Apple MacBook Pro;Apple Powerbook.
List Price: $49.99
Amazon Price: $55.88
Used Price: $52.18
Customer Review: Keeps my laptop out of harms way
My laptop was sitting flat on my desk, and I knew it was just a matter of time before I spilled something on it. So I considered this stand to be an insurance policy, as it puts my Macbook Pro out of harm’s way. Overall, the stand is great. It lifts my laptop up to a better height for viewing, frees up some desk space, and keeps it cooler. My only gripe is that you have to be careful not to scratch the Macbook Pro’s case on the edges of the stand, because the edges are a little sharper than I would like. I think I am going to take a file to the edges and that should fix that. The viewing angle is just fine for me, and I don’t even have the screen tilted all the way back.
Customer Review: rain laptop stand
I have been using this stand for a week. It nicely elevates the mac book pro screen to eye level. The model I received has a notch so the front latch can be reached and does not interfere with the CD slot. It is well-built and well-designed. One point I would like to make is that you should plan on using an external keyboard - the laptop keyboard is not in a comfortably usable position when the computer is on the stand.
Samsung YP-Z5A 4GB MP3 Player - Black 
Used Price: ?32.99
Customer Review: Samsung 4GB YP-Z5
HI PLEASE HELP I BROUGHT THIS SAMSUNG FOR MY DAD FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. ANYWAY THE POINT IS WE HAVE NO TROUBLE GETTING SONGS FROM PC TO SAMSUNG JUST DELETE THE SONGS HE DOS’NT WON’T. CAN ANYONE HELP?
Customer Review: Unfortuately it’ll have to be an ipod!!
I bought this on the strength of some good reviews here on Amazon. However, my advice is now the same as many other buyers - don’t bother. The unit freezes after being charged and you have to hit the reset button. Battery life is not great and for some reason, it stores songs in alphabetical order not in album order. Sound quality is not brilliant. Since purchasing this, I reluctantly gave in and bought an ipod nano. I have to admit that the ipod is just in a different class. Given the problems we all have with Windows, it will probably be an Mac next.
ATMT N-Lite MP140 1GB MP3 Player with DRM10 - Black 
Amazon Price: ?24.99
Customer Review: ATMT-N LITE 1GB
It performs OK but it is a bit quiet. There are no sort facilities and it displays by title, although not in alphabetical order(I don’t know what criteria it uses in sorts). You can’t display by Artist or Album. All in all, not bad but too lacking in facilities to recommend it.
Customer Review: The perfect first MP3 Player
After much humming and haring I decided to take the plunge and bought this player to dip my toe in the water. I only need it for the gym and after seven 1+ hour gym sessions the single AAA battery is still working fine. Whilst not as pleasing on the eye as an iPod it does the job. I had to replace the headphones with a better set I already had and that is the only reason I do not give this a 5 star rating. Having never heard music through a more expensive player I can not comment on the quality of the music but I have no complaints.
