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Buying an HDTV has never been harder and now with LCD fast approaching Plasma set prices, it's getting even harder to differentiate them. That's where I come in. I'll give you the lowdown on the advantages and disadvantages of each platform and I'll help you make the better choice.

LCD

An LCD HDTV seems to be the right choice at first with it's higher price and with more sizes to choos from, LCD would seem the hands down choice. Wrong (for now). While LCD has made significant strides in the past years, Plasma still has the edge over LCD. If you are looking for a smaller screen size then LCD may be your only choice but with fairly good picture and decent viewing angles it isn't the worst thing. One of the huge advantages of LCD is there is no burn-in produced after static images but they do suffer from retained pixel charge which basically means some pixels will stay at a certain spot. The other key advantage is LCD TVs have a higher native resolution. Basicaly what that means is a 42 inch LCD TV will have more pixels than a 42 inch Plasma TV which results in a slightly better picture. They also weigh less and are more durable so personally installing your LCD TV is possible. They don't overheat and are more energy efficient so it can be a more of an environmental choice for people that are trying to cut there energy bill.

Plasma

We are considering a Plasma HDTV because it is better for watching sports with rich colours and deeper blacks. This can also help the picture for regular use and movies. They do suck up more power and suffer from burn-in but if you are pro-active, this will never be an issue because burn-in happens when you leave a static image for too long (pausing a video game or live TV). They are cheaper which is surprising because they are more expensive to ship and handle. If you are mounting it, a professional would be highly recommended and would come with a price tag. Plasmas have a wider viewing angle than LCDs which can be a factor if you have a large room.

Best Buys

Pioneer is by far the best bet for a plasma TV but they will run a little more on the price side. If you are looking for a more bang for your buck, then a Panasonic plasma will be good, just ahead of a Samsung. My two favourite Plasmas are the Pioneer PDP-4360HD ($1700) and Panasonic TH-42PZ700U ($1500).

My favourite LCD is a Sony KDL-46XBR4 ($3000). All three of these TVs are 46-inch (except the Panasonic- 42inch) which I believe most people do buy. Note: US prices.

Canadian retailers

Panasonic TH-42PZ700-ShopBot has a list of retailers including Henry's and The Brick from $2500-$3100.

Pioneer PDP 4360HD-Not sold in Canada but similar model PDP-4280HD at Best Buy for $3000.

Sony KDL-46XBR4-ShopBot has a list of retailers including Sony Style Canada. for $3300

Is Microsoft Office too expensive or are you just looking for something different to manage your data, personal life, and/or finances? We'll there are sites that will do that for you all for free. The great thing about websites is they are everchanging and updates are made very often.

Stixy

Is your fridge getting too full or do you wish that you could share all those proud family moments with the rest of the world? A website is out there that will make you a fridge like page to share with friends and family. Stixy allows you to put notes, to-do lists, photos, documents and upload music with the help of their widgets. Within 10 seconds you are up and running with only your email and personal password entered. You can either start setting up your board or you can invite other people to be allowed to view and edit the board. There isn't the largest amount of space at first but you can close or hide a few toolbars to free up some space. You can create as many boards as you like which is great for people with alot of contacts. Note: to add music, drag the document widget onto the board.

Mint

Alot of people are clueless when it comes to accounting and keeping track of your bank account but that's where a handy website comes in. To keep track of your finances, Mint will download your daily transactions and categorize them to its best ability, all after you've given it your login info to the respected online accounts. A key feature of this site is it will notify you of low balances and/or unusual activity. Due to the sensitivity of this topic you have the right to not trust this blog but if you are curious and want to explore further and gain more respect, then visit theses sites with personal reviews. Piaw and Filife.

Zoho: DB & Reports

My dad loves to fiddle around with charts, data sheets, graphs, and whatnot which could be a reason why he is an accountant so my review of this will lie on his shoulders. Give him till this weekend to fiddle around with the site and I'll give you a personal and in depth review on the site later. Basically Zoho is a database application with a new application called DB & Reports. It gives you many ways to analyze data including graphing, tables, pie charts, etc. The data can be created from scratch or it can be imported from a spreadsheet. Wait to hear the offical review on it later.

If you are a fan of Mozilla or you are getting fed up of Internet Explorer, then Mozilla is updating its much respected broswer, Firefox. Entitled, Mozilla Gran Paradiso, it aims to better the graphics and text rendering and improve stability.

Computer work gets tediuos and hard so here are a couple of downloads to ease the workload on you and your computer.

Snap Back To Reality

When you go and search up a term in Google or any other search let alone have a multitude of websites at your fingertips, you have no clue what to expect from each of them. So, what do you do? You start clicking them one by one, elimating each link as you go along. Wouldn't it be easier if you could click ALL the links at once, or a selective few. Pedro Fonseca thought the same way and he beat me to the development of an actual add-on. He titled it Snap Links and when installed, will enable you to right click and drag, across all the links you'd like to view. When coupled with , you will be offered a multitude of options including: open in new tab, open in new window, save to bookmarks, and copy to clipboard.

Tip Top Computer

Time eats many things up, metaphorically, including humans, animals, and products such as computers. This download though will work against time to bring back your hard drive to what it once was. CCleaner works unlike any other cleaning program as it not only tells you what to clean up within the browser, temp files, and recycling bin, but it goes further and looks at leftover files from programs like Adobe, Nero, HP, Microsoft, etc. It also comes with an uninstaller for other programs (as well as itself) and a registry scanner. Another notable is the included tag editor which enables you to check folders other than the defaults for scanning.

PC PitStop

This website is a personal recommendation of mine and is a must look when browsing for tips to fix your sick computer. It many free utilities that can be used directly from there website without the need for downloading. This includes an optimizer, performance scanner, and disk health. There are literally many more scans and tests you can run at this site and it's proven great for me.

Lest We Forget

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Cairo is a new type of Windows Shell alternative that will be released as a free standing application. There is no word yet on when it will be released but we can all hope it will be sooner than later. Many, including me at first, don't have a clue what a Windows Shell Alternative is; but let me dumb it down for you. When you install a WSA, it replaces explorer.exe. Explorer.exe displays the icons, folders, start menu, and taskbar but Windows has made it possible to change it in numerous ways only if you are good at computers or if you've downloaded something like Cairo.


I was told about this revolutionary piece of "software" by a friend and I decided to do some of my own research. So far though, Cairo's official website is the only place with reliable information.
Even with an official website it isn't sufficient enough to write a full article so this is just an article in development. There are 9 features on Cairo that are either new or improvements on Windows' version. Some of them are:

• A start bar with easy access to all your files and applications.
• Slick and Stable, you never hear those words together
• Multi-Desktop lets you easily organize your workload by desktop
• Dynamic Desktop enables you to browse files and folders right there
• Make virtual file stacks to easily locate files with File & Application Grouping
• Launch applications that are more frequently used and hide the ones you don't with LaunchCairo
• Preview files and folders such as documents, music, and images with File Explorer
• Configure Cairo just the way you like it by adding and removing features with Cairo's unique plugin system

LCD Monitors have become more popular just this year and now the 22-inch segment is the best buy. They are much less priced than 24-inch screens and usually, less than a $100 upgrade from a 19 or 20 inch screen. HP, ViewSonic, and Samsung all offer great looking packages in this size category.

The ViewSonic entry is surprisingly good looking except for the speakers which dull it down a bit. It has more of a bang for your buck coming in at a reasonable $319US. It is not offered in a physical store but you can buy it from a number of online retailers. The graphics, text, and DVD quality are all very good and it comes with analog and digital inputs. It has multiple adjustments and 5ms of repsonse time and 700:1 contrast ratio.

HP offers a brilliant package with good looks and good features for a small premium over the ViewSonic at $330US. The surprising thing is there is a huge difference between the Canadian price and the American price. HP Canada offers the very same monitor for $450 but luckily I stumbled upon an even cheaper price offered by Office Depot at $400. The difference between the HP and Viewsonic is the text quality which goes to the ViewSonic but it makes up in contrast ratio (1000:1) and features. It looks like an HP product which is not surprsing because they are known for there aesthetics. The w2207 combines styleand practicalization with USB ports, pivoting panel, and EasyClip. Easy Clip is a feature on this monitor that will allow you to add different accessories alongside your monitor including a webcam, picture frame, and a flower vase.

Finally, Samsung has come out with the SyncMaster 2232GW. It's a name you'd think you'd hear from an infomercial. It brings it's 'A' game though with great graphics, text and DVD quality. It surpasses all the other monitors in terms of processing power with 3000:1 contrast ratio and 2ms response time but lacks in ergonomics with only tilt adjustment. It's priced a bit higher versus the ViewSonic and HP with a pricetag of $360 US from Circuit City and it is not sold in Canada unless you want to ship it from Samsung.

In conclusion, the ViewSonic is good value for the money whereas Samsung offers a great monitor for gamers and people who need the graphics and suc. The HP monitor is targeted to the mainstream consumer who wants to personalize there technology but desires above-average technology. So find out who you are and purchase accordingly.