Dutch

HT is my passion.

You are not likely to get the best prices at Best Buy or Futureshop - shop around a bit and know what you want before you go in and how much you are willing to pay. Do not get conned into buying a PSP or expensive cables - by the way, expensive means anything over $20. Get your cables at monoprice.com, cheap and good quality - a digital signal is a digital signal - it get's through the cable or not, there's is no such thing as a "better" cable.

A shady way to get a better deal at BB or FS is to haggle a price including the PSP - then you have 30 days to return it after the purchase. Keep the TV you negotiated a better price on b/c you were buying a PSP, then return the PSP.

Difference in LCD and Plasma is basically this - bright room - LCD, otherwise plasma. They have superior contrast (difference in blacks and whites) and far better video quality over all.

If you aren't going to be watching HD - don't buy an HDTV - it will just accentuate the inherent flaws in Standard Definition broadcasts.

Don't buy into the 1080P is "true HD" or 'Full HD." Most people would not be able to tell the difference between 1080P and 720P or 1080i. You need to be dealing with at least a 50" screen from 8-9 feet or less to see the difference. Anthing over 10 feet and you would not see the benefit at a screen size of 50" or less. 1080P can only be had from Blu-ray or HD DVD (now dead). Get a great deal on a 720P LCD or 1080i plasma and save $400+/-.

Don't be sold on a 120Hz (most are 60Hz) TV because it "is better for sports". It's not. They introduce artifacts to make the picture seem 3D like - not how TV was intended to be viewed. Movies are not meant to be watched at 120Hz.

For some very, very good reading:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php

And the best Canadian Deals site out there (click on Computers and Electronics for some great deals and discussions):

http://www.redflagdeals.com/

You are all welcome.

I saw where a reporter asked Sundin if he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to make the team that he loves better. In short he said he will be finishing out his career in Toronto.

Sundin is going nowhere.

The only time that it's not good is when you never use it. I had my entire "light engine" replaced just over a year after my factory warranty was up. Basically, the "light engine" was the complete inside of my tv. I bought new, unproven technology when I bought my $2000.00 DLP. So I was comfortable buying the psp. And it paid off.

 

To say "Never, ever buy PSP" is just wrong. It's an insurance policy. You don't buy house insurance hoping that your house burns down and you can cash in. There's 2 ways at looking at it.

Definitely like buying insurance - who likes to throw away cash on auto insurance and house insurance each year when you never have a claim? The only difference with a PSP is that you have a choice to buy it - with home and auto it is not a choice.

I guess we can agree to disagree - my opinion is that in the short and long run PSP will cost you more than not buying them.

I always laugh when I remember the time some guy at The Source tried to sell me a PSP on a disposable $10 pack of AA batteries - that's right batteries - for the bargain basement price of $2.99.

The only thing about buying a PSP is you can get a lower price on your electronics purchase is you agree to buy one. Their policy states you can return the PSP within 30 days. Get the lower price and voila, money saved and refunded when you return it within the 30 days.....it's not cheating, it's just being frugal.

Home theatre has been a passion of mine for going on 2 years now.

Ask questions before you buy - the sale associate would have probably known the PSP did not cover bulb replacement (hopefully).

Never, ever buy PSP - they make waaayyy too much off them for what they are worth. Every website you read says to stay away - so stay away.

Brings me to my next point - do your research.

DLP's and RP LCD's many times have a bulb setting, kind of like high, medium, low - have it set on low or medium and you will get longer bulb life.

Calibrate your TV - the first thing you should do is take it out of "torch mode." Reduce your contrast and brightness setting they are usually set at 100% and 75% respectively out of the box. A properly calibrated TV should be, in most cases, set at less than 50% in contrast and similar in brightness.

I love this stuff and read Home Theatre websites and forums daily - PM me for advice on anything HT related.

One last tip - DON'T buy expensive cables - they make no difference at all. The same $150 cable costs $10-$15 online.

Any post by holdfast.....

Seriously - I like MB's post in this thread.

Pull out as much line as you are comfortable with casting and put a piece of tape across the line and spool. No more back lashes, and if you do get one, it won't be that deep in the spool.

As far as line goes - much easier to learn with mono - 17 Lb. minimum.

With the loonie where it is and causing increased border traffic and also recalling some posts dicussing the issue, I came across an official Government of Canada notice in tonight's paper on the documentation required to travel into the US. Just thought I'd share.

"Attention Canadian Citizens Travelling to the US by Land or Water"

As of JANUARY 31, 2008, if you travel to the US by land or water, a US law will require you to present:

- A government issued photo ID (i.e. driver's license); AND

- A birth certificate or a citizenship card

OR

- For youth under 16, a birth certificate

OR

- A valid passport

No word on what would be required before January 31, 2008, but I would still use one of the above.

He averaged over a point a game.

Won awards, as mentoined above.

Compare his accomplishments to a guy like Cam Neely - who is in the HOF - pretty tough not to put Lindros in. I don't think he will get it in 3 years when he is first eligible, but he will get in eventually.

Granted, Neely won Stanley Cups (I think), but last I checked that is not a prerequisite. Nor is the amount of injury time....

I vote yes.

PVR is the best thing since sliced bread!

Makes TV watching more efficient and leaves more time for surfing the net or doing whatever. For example, I can record a show that starts at 9:00, start watching it at 9:15-9:20, skip the commercials and still go to bed at 10:00. I just picked up 20 minutes to do something else.

Pretty heavy fish for 39" at 15 lbs.!

Must be eating good.

Great job WTG!

Nice hog - way to go.

Condolences and great write-up.

As Joey said, his feedback is decent.

If you go for it, do the transaction through e-bay, not privately.

It looks like it may go for even less than $3,500 as there is no reserve on the boat. I would suspect there is something major wrong with it for that price, seems others are scared off too. Could be the deal of the century or a complete dud.

Haaaaaaaaaaa.

Good stuff.

I don't think we are in for a drop in rates. The BOC will hold the line.

If they were concerned about the climbing loonie and the impact on manufacturing, there would have been a cut on September 5 when they last met, or at least some hints at future rate cuts. The bigger issue for the BOC (whether I agree it's an issue or not) is inflation.

Bring on MSRP parity - that's what I want, especially on electronics, boats and vehicles.

Thanks for all the advice.

After trying the suggestions here and a few others, getting it loose was a no go.

Called the dealership and to my surprise everything is covered by warranty, including the tow. So it's out being fixed.

Now if I could just do something about that $100 front and rear "brake cleaning" they suggested.....yes, it will help my brakes last longer apparently. Save it for the real idiots - I'm only in training.

2005 Chev Colorado.

What pound test mono are you using?

It may be an issue with stretch or not keeping tension on when they are fighting. Don't horse them. I have caught a grand total of 2 muskies, so by no means am I an expert, but the 2 I caught I was actually fishing for them. I use braided line with a wire leader. I have hooked some before (lighter line, smaller tackle), but like you, never landed any.

It may be an issue with your terminal tackle. In general, you need big, sharp hooks to pierce through tough jaws. With smaller tackle and, as a result, smaller hooks you are less likely to get a good hookset. With the smaller hooks they may pierce softer skin areas that may rip causing a thrown bait versus big trebles that will penetrate better.

I was thinking about how to take advantage of our at-par (or better) dollar.

With some excess cash, I was thinking about buying some blue-chip, dividend paying US dollar stock.

History has shown that the US dollar is above ours and I expect that to remain over the long term. What buying this stock would allow is a better investment than simply buying USD currency and holding on to it (see my boat account thought below). You get the advantage of earning income in dividends in the mean time and in the long-run appreciation of the stock and of the dollar back to "normal" levels. When you dispose of the stock - tax is paid at only capital gains rates.

What are your thoughts on this and what, if anything else, are people doing to take advantage of the strong dollar?

Oh - another thing, I was thinking of locking in by opening a USD bank account (and depositing some funds) for a possible US boat purchase next year.

Hi All.

Just wondering if there's some adivce out there for a seized emergency brake. Truck has only 32K on it and I haven't used the emergency brake since last summer. As soon as I stepped down on the pedal, I was cursing myself.

Before I spend a bunch on a tow and mechanic visit is there anything I can do to fix this myself and after fixing - to prevent it from happening again?

Thanks in advance.

I guess opinions on eating muskie depend on whether an attempt was made to revive the fish (or a pic of the head maybe.....):

http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.p...mp;#entry100362

Take a listen to Headhunter's advice.

From a bosses standpoint, which I am (but I would never do what he did), you need to heal things over. He isn't going to come to you probably, so you need to hatch things out with him.

Let him know where you were coming from and tell him you just didn't understand his point of view. Hopefully he will elaborate.

You may want to say you know it was wrong to go to the pres. (even if you don't believe it). He will probably say he was wrong to deny your early leave.

This is a give-give type of talk. Hopefully the boss will take the bait.

We probably spend as much time with our co-workers as we do with our families. Work is not a place for personal problems to get in the way. You and your boss should realize that and bury the hatchet.

As a boss once told me - in a struggle between bosses and their direct reports, the boss will always win, we are management for a reason - may be mean spirited, but it is true and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Is this stuff the next flying lure, helicoper lure or banjo minnow?

I am going to have to pick some up!

Seriously though, Gulp wasn't any better than the "Tournament Strength" power bait line, which wasn't any better than the original power bait line. Great marketing campaign, especially at $24 a tub.

Fish aren't the only thing that get caught in the sport...IMO.

You think government issued ID works?? What about the time the MTO told my husband that he couldn't register a new car because, in their books, he was dead, and they had the death certificate to prove it!!

I should have been more exact in my response - government issued PHOTO ID. I never said that it works, just that lawyers are required to get copies for their files for property transactions.

You're right Mo, that doesn't makes sense. Names are usually not arbitrarily added to titles. I would be interested to hear how this turns out!

If you need to, call a lawyer - I expect that you will find that it is just a person with the same name. Some documentation though, only has first and last names.

Lawyers take the extra step now of photocopying a piece of government issued ID. I do not think they have been doing this for any length of time though.

Good luck with it.