The Disadvantages of Buying Second Hand Appliances

Buying pre-owned appliances such as plasma televisions or fridges from friends, family or second hand stores can come with a risk. What’s the history of the product? 

Have they been damaged? Are they still in full working condition? Electrical items all have a date where they will no longer work. Purchasing new products allows for peace of mind with warranty guarantee’s and the ability to return faulty products. So what are the primary disadvantages associated with pre-owned products?

Warranty

With any new electrical appliance, you are guaranteed to receive warranty. Warranty is vital for electrical items, especially as faults can be a common occurrence and can happen at any time without warning. Purchasing a pre-owned electrical item such as a plasma TV or fridge means running the risk of a product fault and not having any cover.

Electricity Consumption

Pre-owned products generally are a couple of years old. They have lower energy and water ratings which will increase the cost of any electricity bill. For the long term, it’s more beneficial to purchase a new Westinghouse fridge or dishwasher with higher ratings, so as to save money down the track.

Look and Feel

With such a large range of new electrical appliances there will always be the perfect look and feel. Finding the right size, shape, style and brand has never been easier and is one of the most positive benefits of purchasing new electrical appliances.

Quality

General wear and tear occurs with all products, whether they are new or pre-owned. The issue with the latter, however, is the possibility of existing minor wear snowballing into a major issue quicker than if using a new appliance.

Be sure to consider the short and long term costs and benefits involved before purchasing pre-owned electrical appliances.

Tips in Creating an Entertainment Room at Home

Ever wanted to have the best home entertainment theatre? There is nothing better than having that real cinema experience from the comfort of the lounge or entertaining room. With the broad range of products now available, creating a personalised home theatre has never been so affordable and exciting.

Before looking at which products will feature in the home theatre, check the dimensions of the room as well as the lighting and how easily cabling will be. Figure out the best way to set up the system before purchasing any products.

The TV

Choosing the right TV to suit the room is essential. Plasma TV’s have a stronger cinematic experience as the overall picture quality is slightly greater than an LCD TV. Plasmas are also better suited to darker rooms for the complete movie feel. However if the room is brighter and has plenty of natural light an LCD TV will be better suited as the picture doesn’t reflect the same way a plasma does. Then look at the size of the TV, what’s the best size for the room and distance from the couch?

Home Theatre System

As much as the TV looks like the centrepiece of any entertainment room, a stylish home theatre system compliments it perfectly. Combining a perfect picture with matching sound is creates that perfect theatre environment. There is a huge range of home theatre systems, including in built systems to wireless speaker systems.

Choosing an inbuilt sound system can be quite costly; however it keeps the room neat and creates a fantastic sound experience. Alternatively you can look into wireless speaker systems; there is a large range with new and exciting styles. Be sure to talk to an in store expert before purchasing so that they can help determine the best sound quality for their purpose.

Let the home theatre system and plasma TV make a statement!

Ideal New Gadgets for the Whole Family

Just in case families didn’t get enough of their electronics over the holiday period, there are plenty of hot tech gadgets for the New Year. Some of them are already on the market with new improvements, while others have a totally new feel to them. All of them are powerful and can make for great additions to the family home. 

Far from encouraging family members to separate and get immersed in their own devices, these gadgets are for bringing everyone together with the very best home entertainment experience. Movies and TV for all!

LCD Smart TV

What’s better than an LCD TV? An LCD Smart TV, of course! With a gorgeous display, the TV is made even better with the ability to stream content online. With a huge amount of it being proved free through local channels, or with a small amount of advertising, streaming means there’s always something on for the family to watch. 

Media Centre

For those not ready to update their TV, a media centre add-on may be the best option. The media centre is for families with a large digital library. Utilising a home’s Wi-Fi, playback is incredibly simple and it means everyone can offer up options on what to watch. Plus, plenty of media centres have smart capability, and can even function with smartphones – replacing the old remote control!

4K TV

For those who want the absolute best out of their TV, 4K TVs are going to begin their total domination of the TV market in 2014. What makes them so special? They have the crispest, sharpest, highest resolution of any TV available, creating the most beautiful, most startlingly realistic image possible. Plus, they’re designed to be smart and packed with features. This capability also means that they’re likely to keep evolving after they’re purchased, as new software and apps are developed for them.

Top 5 Tech Gadgets for Christmas

This year, millions of men will fill their wish lists with tech gadgets for Christmas. For anyone unsure of what to buy for the men in their life, this gift guide can shed some light on the best gadgets. The are many different brands, makes and models of each listed below, meaning buyers should be on the lookout for great electronics deals to get the most out of their holiday season.

Smart TV

Physically a smart TV is difficult to distinguish from a traditional TV. But upon turning the TV on and exploring the internal software, all the difference comes to light. Smart Televisions ship with built-in apps and many other available for download, meaning they are able to provide video on demand channels through many free and paid channels. They are also able to access web apps and widgets, with features like social media and weather.

Tablet Computer

A tablet computer is undoubtedly the hottest tech gadget for Christmas. With hundreds of thousands of apps available, a tablet can be whatever a person wants it to be, whether that’s movie player, word processor, web browser or gaming system.

Smart Wristband

For the health conscious man, a smart wristband is an outstanding tech gadget gift. The smart wristbands are small and simple, designed to be continuously worn. In doing so, they track a number of different stats on a person’s physical state. When paired with a smartphone app, the wristband can track sleep, alert a person when they’ve been sitting still for too long, and track exercise activity. They’re incredibly useful and can provide many insights for the wearer.

Smart Watch

Different from a wristband, the smart watch is designed to work with a smartphone over Bluetooth and offer many features on a second, wearable screen.  The watches can read text messages, display alerts show emails received.

Bluetooth Speaker

Bluetooth speakers make excellent gifts for the man who likes to take his music with him. Many models have rechargeable batteries and are portable. Through Bluetooth, they can play music from a smartphone, achieving outstanding sound quality in what is often a very small package.