Herculodge

How Big of a TV Should You Get? Depends on Whom You Ask

I've been casually researching the best TV to get and my living room positions viewers 8 feet from the screen. So how big should my new LCD TV be? Depends on whom you ask. My wife's uncle told me that "people in the know" would recommend going no bigger than 40 inches since at 8 feet a bigger TV would highlight defects in imaging. But CNETsuggests I can go up to 65 inches. 

But the LCD Buying Guide offers a distance-size calculator which at 8 feet suggests a screen of 32 inches, half the previous recommendation. 

But the Practical Home Theater Guide differs, offering the 2-to-5 Principle, stated as thus: "For optimum TV viewing distance, the nearest seating position should be limited to approximately twice the screen width . . . "

Then there's Crutchfield, which offers a guide that agrees with my uncle's 40-inch recommendation. 

Bottom-line is I'd to stick the TV in the living room on a trial basis and see how it looks. If I were so privileged, I'd like to sample various LCD and Plasma models. But my research tells me to get a 40- or 46-inch Samsung LCD 1080 with 120 Hz (which means refresh rate is faster and images look better). Now that I've narrowed down the focus, the fun is gone and I'm content with keeping my Toshiba conventional TV until the Samsung price reduces to a $1,000 or so. 

I've been casually researching the best TV to get and my living room positions viewers 8 feet from the screen. So how big should my new LCD TV be? Depends on whom you ask. My wife's uncle told me that "people in the know" would recommend going no bigger than 40 inches since at 8 feet a bigger TV would highlight defects in imaging. But CNETsuggests I can go up to 65 inches. 

But the LCD Buying Guide offers a distance-size calculator which at 8 feet suggests a screen of 32 inches, half the previous recommendation. 

But the Practical Home Theater Guide differs, offering the 2-to-5 Principle, stated as thus: "For optimum TV viewing distance, the nearest seating position should be limited to approximately twice the screen width . . . "

Then there's Crutchfield, which offers a guide that agrees with my uncle's 40-inch recommendation. 

Bottom-line is I'd to stick the TV in the living room on a trial basis and see how it looks. If I were so privileged, I'd like to sample various LCD and Plasma models. But my research tells me to get a 40- or 46-inch Samsung LCD 1080 with 120 Hz (which means refresh rate is faster and images look better). Now that I've narrowed down the focus, the fun is gone and I'm content with keeping my Toshiba conventional TV until the Samsung price reduces to a $1,000 or so. 

Barry's First Impressions of His CCRane CSW: Better Speaker Sound Than the CCR-2's

I just wanted to drop a note and thank you for your recommendation to get the CCrane CSW.  I went ahead and purchased the CCrane CSW (Redsun PR2100) and and so far am very impressed.  I have had it since Friday and am impressed with the AM performance.  I live outside of Denver and at hight have been able to pickup KFI in Los Angeles, St Louis (KMUX), Chicago (WGN), Cincinnati (WLW) and stations in Minnesota, Iowa amd Oklahoma.  On shortwave Taiwan and Australia.  I have not checked out FM as of yet.  I like the large display and the large tuner knob.  I think the speaker is good for this type of radio and is significantly better than the CCRadio2.  I plan on doing a comparison with the CCRadio2 but this radio so far is outstanding. 

Editor's Note: I agree with Barry that the CRW's speaker sound is better than the CCR's.  

GE Super Radio II in Excellent Condition Bidding with "Reserve Not Met"

$50 has not fulfilled the reserve on this very good condition GE SR II. 

Amazon Selling the Eton Sound 100 Radio with Remote for $46

In a cobalt blue color and featuring a telescopic FM antenna and remote control, this Eton Sound 100 is an excellent radio, especially at this price point. Don't buy this for a clock radio as its too bright, but for a kitchen radio or other general home use, this is excellent. 

Panasonic RF-888 with Microphone Bidding on eBay

The seller still has the microphone for this Panasonic RF-888, currently bidding for $32. I overpaid for mine a couple of years ago, spending about $200. These commonly sell in the $80-100 range. The RF-888 fared very well in a comparison test. 

For Your Wish List: A Sony CRF-150 Bidding on eBay

If there's one vintage radio I'm coveting more than any other, this could be it: a good condition Sony CRF-150, currently bidding for $72. I'm anticipating a final bid of around $300. 

A Reader Takes Issue with the Title "Newscaster" for Jon Stewart

Mike W writes some piquant criticism on Jon Stewart's number one ranking as most trusted newscaster:

Stewart is neither a newscaster nor a journalist. He, along with Colbert and their ilk, should be properly regarded as court jesters who deflate people's outrage by trivializing serious issues. We're directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not a million, innocent Iraqis, with Stewart & Colbert providing the chuckles all the way. 

At least with South East Asia we had the decency not to laugh at the people we were murdering. I'm tired of Americans pontificating about how the WW II generation of Germans could have stood by passively while their government mass-murdered the innocent, because I see the same damn thing every day in this country, and we're at the exact same moral level as those ordinary Germans. We just have a different definition of which categories of human lives can be regarded as worthless.

Editor's Response: I think TV is intrinsically trivializing, as Neil Postman made so clear in Amusing Ourselves to Death, so Jon Stewart works in a very limited medium but within that medium with all its gross defects he does expose fraud. Is he giving detailed exposition to foreign policy and other weighty matters that deserve as much? No he isn't. But there is no medium for him to do so unless he writes university press polemics, which don't get a very big audience. 

Time Poll Shows That Jon Stewart Is the Most Trusted Newscaster in America

I'm not at all surprised by the Times Poll that shows Jon Stewart to be the most trusted newscaster in America.

Jon Stewart is a humorist who has committed his profession to skewering frauds, deflating bombastic hacks, and exposing all other forms of sham and humbug.

Stewart is a non-partisan equal-opportunity basher. Hats off to Stewart for his success and his number one ranking.

Will This Sony TFM-8000 Bid Low Because of Missing Antenna Tip? Time to Get Out the Mighty Putty

This top-ranked Sony TFM-8000 might bid low (current bid is one dollar) as many don't want a missing antenna tip. But fear not, Angelo writes. A missing tip can be rectified rather easily:

The late, great Billy Mays gave us the answer for missing antenna tips: Mighty Putty. You simply take a small amount of the putty, mix it well, shape it the way you want, press it on the antenna rod, mold it firmly to the antenna top and let it dry a day or two. After that, feel free to color it with a Sharpie or even paint it. Custom antenna tip, all done. I've done a few of these with great results.

High Praise for the Panasonic RF-888

Stetsi shares a similar enthusiasm for the Panasonic RF-888 (pictured above on left next to a Panasonic RF-877) that has been expressed on Herculodge:

A word of thanks to all you guys who recommended and reviewed the RF-888. I've just joined the club, and all the praise is warranted. It's bloody marvellous. Picked one up for US$20 odd; covered in grime, paint sprays, etc; all of which was only cocooning the case, which has emerged beautifully preserved after a thorough cleaning. All functions working perfectly. It's the greatest speaker size to cabinet ratio I've ever seen in a radio: lovely big sound, but still very portable. Mine is a RF-888JB model (aka GX-300), which seems to have been an Asia-Pacific distribution model (direct 240v input; Shortwave 5.9-18mhz instead of PBS band; a useful 5 pin Din line in/out socket, instead of 3.5mm sockets).

Stetsi shares a similar enthusiasm for the Panasonic RF-888 (pictured above on left next to a Panasonic RF-877) that has been expressed on Herculodge:

A word of thanks to all you guys who recommended and reviewed the RF-888. I've just joined the club, and all the praise is warranted. It's bloody marvellous. Picked one up for US$20 odd; covered in grime, paint sprays, etc; all of which was only cocooning the case, which has emerged beautifully preserved after a thorough cleaning. All functions working perfectly. It's the greatest speaker size to cabinet ratio I've ever seen in a radio: lovely big sound, but still very portable. Mine is a RF-888JB model (aka GX-300), which seems to have been an Asia-Pacific distribution model (direct 240v input; Shortwave 5.9-18mhz instead of PBS band; a useful 5 pin Din line in/out socket, instead of 3.5mm sockets).