Best Media Remote For your Digital Living Room

…One of these days, Brotha Tech will be large enough to where my inbox will be full of messages from companies itching to send me their products so I can bless them with my insightful, witty reviews. Until then, there are some other folks out there who are already where I am trying to go. So instead of ignoring their existence until I am put on, I will gladly support other great sources for great tech products.

The Lowdown:

One such source is Digital Living Room. The article that caught my eye was “Top 3 Media Remotes for your HTPC Media Center”.

A Media Remote is a little different than your average TV, VCR, DVD, AVR remote…actually, it’s all those remotes with the addition of an PC remote all rolled up into one. For those who don’t know (this IS a place for learning), a Home Theater PC is a computer that can handle most if not all of your typical media. Whether it be music, home videos, streaming movies, online and broadcast TV shows, and movies you’ve saved (legally of course) on your PC, a HTPC has “upgraded” equipment and software than can handle the load most media can throw at a device…I should’ve just quoted from the article myself…it did a better job!

A Media Remote is one of the most important elements of your digital living room as that determines how comfortable you are able to control your HTPC Media Center. The key contribution of this article is to help you first to recognize what do you expect from your HTPC Media Center and then suggest the best media remote for those activities.

Since nobody wants to fumble around with a large keyboard and mouse in your lap (I used to do it with a TV dinner tray) just to get to the content on your PC, a Media Remote is the best choice.

That’s where the article comes in and gives you a breakdown of the top remotes that can control your HTPC. So check it out: Top 3 Media Remotes For Your HTPC Media Center.

www.(insertyournamehere).com

This can be your internet home

Yeah, we all know you have the PERFECT website address that you will use once you start your own business or finally pay somebody learn how to build a website (hardly anybody builds websites any more…if that will motivate you to get started…click this link to find out how)

Whenever you decide that you are finally ready to start that process, the first thing you need to do is register a domain name Click here to learn how to register…but to be honest, you don’t have to wait until you are up and running to register a domain name.

The Lowdown:

Just about ALL of us have an email address right? And ALL of use an email hosting site for your address right?…you know: youremailname@endswithoogle.com?

Well what if you had you own email address like (I will use myself as an example) myrealname@brothatech.com? The “@brothatech.com” could be your very own domain name that you also use as an email address – That to me looks way cooler (a brotha loves cool) than using somebody else’s stuff. All those email hosting sites do is give you a place to house all your emails and other related junk. Most, if not all of the domain name sites also have a email hosting feature, that enables you to use their email service to check your email or some may give the ability to link to any of the popular email sites that you normally use.

Now, I know you are asking “how much does all of this cost?” Trust me, if you dig hard enough (I hope you didn’t think I was gonna do ALL the work for you) you can prolly find free domain name registering and email hosting site free of charge. If you are lazy would prefer to go more mainstream, most sites offer both features for as little as 10 bucks a month (you prolly spend that on ONE trip to Starbucks).

To make a long story short, you don’t have to wait until have a well-known, heavily financed, huge profit margin generating business to register and utilize a domain name. You can do it now, for the cheap if not free. (I would suggest you do it soon before somebody nabs your schnazzy address and tries to sell it back to you!)

Craigslist Common Sense

You all know by now that a brotha loves free (who doesn’t actually?). If I can’t get it free, I am looking for the best deal possible, which in a great deal of cases, my searches have led to multiple purchases via Craigslist. BUT my crusade for the ultimate deal does not cloud my judgement. As a result, I will not fall for the “oke-doke” and you shoudn’t either! So today I will give you some tips as to how to safely shop on Craigslist.

I am pretty sure you all have heard the horror stories related to doing pretty much anything on Craigslist. People have been robbed, you can read “Jacques Story” over on The Berry Reporter. Some folks have even been killed doing “business” on Craigslist. So you can see why many people are leery when dealing with Craigslist. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You just have to know the deal. Here are a brotha’s good tips when dealing on Craigslist.

The Lowdown

Do your research on the product first. Get the model number from the listing and do a search. Find out approximately when the product was manufactured, what was/is the retail price, what (if any) recent upgrades or recalls are associated with the product. That way, it will be easier to spot a bogus item WAY BEFORE YOU MEET UP WITH THE SELLER!

Pay attention to detail. Notice how much detail is in the description of the item. The more the merrier. Crooks and low-lifes want to give you the LEAST amount of info as possible. If there isn’t much detail, contact the buyer and request more (Original date of purchase, additional pics, etc). If they still don’t offer up any specifics, move on.

Which leads me to contact the seller – and when you do, get a phone number and REAL email address (NOT that lame craigslist-general product-specific email addy either!) In addition to setting up a meeting location, Contact the seller anyway, and get a first-hand idea of why they are selling and the condition of the product – Verbally, would be best. The idea is to bring the person out in the open. Somebody looking to do a shady deal is gonna want to keep all contact to a bare minimum. IF the seller is short with all your inquires, BE AWARE!

…and now the meat and potatoes to dealing on Craigslist

MEET DURING THE DAY IN PUBLIC! I always meet at a popular store, or the food court of a major mall.

This should be basic knowledge, but since people still are falling victim, I will give you some places where NOT to meet.

- At ANY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. If it’s too “problematic” for the seller to leave the house, it should be too much of an inconvience for you to buy!

- In a parking lot. Even during the day, you can get robbed pretty quickly, and nobody’s gonna help, they just want your parking spot!

- AT NIGHT, unless it’s the inside of a well-lit public location. C’MON Son! You should know this already!

Remember, YOU ARE THE BUYER, so YOU set the terms of the meet! If a seller can ONLY meet at such and such location, ONLY during such and such time, they must not want to sell the item bad enough, so you should just move on!

Here is Craigslist’s take of being safe (just in case you don’t believe a brotha!)

BE SMART AND SAFE FOLKS…don’t make me have to tell you twice!

If there any other tips, tricks or experiences I missed that will ensure a SAFE AND SECURE Craigslist experience, add your .2 cents!

Carry your keys on your other key!

In certain areas of my life, I have minimal cases of OCD. One area where my OCD shines is with my keys. Specifically:

1. All of my keys “teeth” have to be pointing in the same direction on my key ring.

2. I ABSOLUTELY HATE HAVING TOO MANY KEYS ON MY KEYRING!

(dont judge me!!!)

The Lowdown:

Well thanks to Scott Amron of amronexperimental, he has pretty much cancelled my “key issues” (pun very much so intended) with his new “Keybrid” invention.

Simply put, (If you can’t tell from the picture…I certainly hope so) the Keybrid combines a key with a key ring. This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” type of inventions.

The price for two cut keys is $7 and orders can be taken @amronexperimental.com

If you are not buying the biggest, don’t get the best

…when it comes to deciding which HDTV resolution display to buy.

I found a great article @Frugal Home A/V that explains why you probably don’t need a 1080p display.

When deciding whether or not to give into the salesman and buy that shiny 1080p TV that is beautifully displayed in the “Home Theater Center”, with the super surround speakers and nice leather couch; or be sensible and get the 720p joint they have tucked in the back corner all dimly lit, there is one question you need to answer “What size TV am I going buy?”

Like the article suggests, If you are buy anything under 50 inches, and will be sitting 13 feet or closer, chances are you will NOT be able to see the difference between a 1080p and 720p display. Conversely, where a 1080p resolution shines is if you are buying a larger TV (or projector) and have a HUGE living room or dedicated home theater to put it in.

I know it will be hard to resist temptation, but save yourself some dough and get the 720p TV. A brotha would prefer you take the difference and invest it in a nice surround system that will compliment your new TV and give you full entertainment experience…you’ll thank me later.

[via: Frugal Home A/V]