Reviews by brianlilly

brianlilly says "One remote to rule them all" about Logitech - Harmony One Remote

brianlilly — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:51:56 GMT

After years of suffering with 5 remotes on my living room table I finally decided to get a universal remote. The Harmony One remote is a new addition to the Logitech lineup and as such has most of the best features of previous models. The main feature it lacks is RF capability, but I wasn't interested in that anyways.

My preference in remotes is for something that I fits well in my hand and that I can find the right button by touch. For that reason I wasn't interested in any of the flat/wide remotes with large touchscreens (but few buttons). The form factor of the Harmony One is exactly what I was looking for--about the size of a normal dvd player remote--with buttons for play, pause, enter, volume, channel, etc reasonably laid out. As a bonus this remote has a motion sensor that turns on a backlight, so even if you aren't familar with the remote there's no problem using it in a dark room. The backlight lights up both the touch LCD near the top as well as all the individual buttons.......

brianlilly says "The Coen brothers at their best" about No Country for Old Men (Book)

brianlilly — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:30:36 GMT

No Country for Old Men is a great movie, but not for everyone. I can't say much without spoiling things, but it's not a standard run of the mill story....

brianlilly says "Great way to connect more component video sources to your TV" about Audio Authority Component 4x1 Audio/Video Switcher (AA1154A)

brianlilly — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:28:19 GMT

I picked up the Audio Authority component video switch box because my TV only has one component video input. I finally got tired of manually switching the component cable between my DVD player and HDTV receiver. I found this product after searching for similar devices on the net. From the feature list is did everything I needed, but without extra bells and whistles so I didn't end up paying for anything I won't use.

The unit is fairly small (about 3"x4"x6") and straightforward to use. Basically on the back of the box there are 4 sets of inputs (component video plus optical and digital coax audio) and one set of outputs. The unit automatically selects the output based on a "live" audio input. If more than one input is on, it selects the lowest numbered input to display. The manual warns about some devices that always output a null digital audio signal even when the device is powered off. It recommends connecting those devices to lower priority inputs on the switcher. ...

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