Buying Second Hand

What to look out for when buying a used or pre-owned item?

Buying a used or second hand good can turn out to be a good and value buy as such items are usually sold at slightly lower prices than the new ones.

Bargain Hunters

Bargain hunters and those with budget constraints will certainly welcome the savings derived from such buys.

Better still if the second hand item that you are buying online is an item that has been repaired and then resold as a refurbished item. This is quite prevalent with laptops and personal computers.

Check the age of the used item and how long more it can be used. It is safer to go for used items that are up to a year old in order to minimise risk unless the item has been well maintained by the previous owner.

It is always a good idea to get as much information as possible on the specifications of the pre-owned item from the manufacturer or previous owner and double check what you are told before you conclude your purchase.

Unsatisfactory Buy

To avoid ending up with an unsatisfactory buy, make it a point to know what you are looking for and do not feel embarrassed or afraid to ask questions on the used item.
Ensure that the voltage works in your home country and do not let your decision to be based on price alone.

Check also if you will get a warranty for your purchase. If yes, for how long and if an extended warranty is permissible. Ensure that  the amount footed out does not cost more than the price of a new item.

Most items are sold as seen with no refunds or exchanges.
If possible, find out if you are allowed to return the used goods if you change your mind or are unhappy with it. If yes, within what time frame must this be done?


How to choose a HDTV?

Home entertainment experience has been greatly enhanced with the advent of high definition televisions (HDTVs) which have not only provide better quality images, cinematic surround sound, vibrant colours but also wider screen and about five times the details of your standard definition (SD) TV.

HDTVs offer a 360 degree sensorial experience that is superior to your SDTV, whose aspect ratio is 4:3 while most HDTVs broadcast images in cinematic wide-screen format of 16:9, which refers to the ratio of the image width to the image height.

Choosing the right size HDTV will depend on your budget and your needs. Although the screen size is not supposed to affect the visual quality of your HD experience, it cannot be denied that a larger screen allows the HDTV to pick up more details.

So, how to know what HDTV size fits you? For some, this is determined by the pre-existing space or the size of the TV cabinet that you have bought or fallen for.

Moving in tandem with the latest developments in the audio video, local manufacturers of TV cabinets and entertainment units have not only made pieces that can fit the larger 52-inch screens but also come up with innovative features such as screen mounting that can swivel 30 degrees both ways and has motorised pop-up mechanisms to enhance your home interior.
 
A 32-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) HDTV set, with code cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) backlight techcnology, would suffice for those with a small room or kitchen.

With technological advancements, LCD TVs now come even in 55 inches, overtaking the 37-, 42- and 50-inch size category occupied by plasma TVs due to their more affordable pricing.
A plasma TV has been described as an array of tiny gas cells sandwiched between two sheets of glass, with each cell acting like a mini fluorescent tube and emitting ultra violet light which then strikes red, green and blue spots, which glow to build a picture on the screen.

It not only requires more power to produce the same brightness as an LCD TV but also weighs a lot more compared to the same screen size of an LCD TV, thus making it more problematic to set up or move around.  

Both LCD and plasma TVs are often referred to as flat screen TVs. They can be mounted on the wall.

Light emitting diode or LED TVs are "in" now.  There are LCD TVs that use LED backlighting rather than CCFL to give greater dynamic contrast for images. They are also slimmer and offer a more sustainable choice with its longer life span and better energy efficiency compared to plasmas and conventional LCD TVs.



Home Theatre Systems
Now, how do you bring that big screen or cinematic experience into the comfort of your family living room or custom made home theatre room?

It is not so difficult these days to create a home theatre with the wide array of products such as high definition television (HDTV) displays, surround sound speakers and HD or Blu-ray disc DVD players that have been rolled out into the market.

You can either pick out these basic audio video (AV) components in order to create your own home theatre or get a home theatre in a box package, which is an integrated home theatre system, from companies like Onkyo and Panasonic to save you the hassle, time and sometimes money as well.

If you already own a 16:9 aspect ratio HDTV, match with a good wide-screen multi-disc DVD player and a complete surround sound system, viola, you have a home theatre set up!

How to know what suits you

For your display set, select the image size you desire based on your budget. Larger screen does not always mean it is better as you need to consider your room size, where the screen will be placed and the lighting conditions.

To know what image size suits your room, always remember that the diagonal screen size of your HDTV should not be larger than about half your seating distance. You should not be sitting more than seven feet from your 42-inch screen or five feet from your 32-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) HD set.

A comfortable living room or spacious entertainment space is crucial for the enjoyment of your home theatre experience.

Remember that LCD screens work better in brightly lited rooms while front projectors require dim lightings or a darkened room in order to obtain sharper images.

Before, its usage focused more toward business presentations on the personal computers but now the latter can give you that big screen effect with sharper images in your home theatre system from up to 10 ft in distance.

In addition, the rear projection TVs, also referred to as digital light projections, are deemed value buys for those with larger rooms to play with as they can offer more than 70 inches of diagonal screen.

Other "must haves" to consider for your home theatre system are a subwoofer, AV receiver, amplifier, HD multimedia interface and a set of centre, left and right speakers. Better still, satellite speakers or 5.1 channel wireless speakers.