Like TV? Look at This

Steve Bass

In addition to writing PC World's Home Office column, Steve Bass is the author of PC Annoyances. Sign up to have Steve Bass's Home Office Newsletter e-mailed to you each week. Comments or questions? Send Steve e-mail.

A few columns ago, I talked about TiVo and other ways to record live TV. As I researched that column, I found other ways to make TV viewing better, even if you don't have a TiVo. Grab your remote and let's start flipping.

Getting the Signal

For a long time, I used two Web sites to help me keep track of my favorite shows and look for movies I might want to watch. TV Grid and TVMinder have either been absorbed by other TV sites or gone the way of other dot coms, into the bit bucket.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the two I'm currently using stay around for a while.

The first, and the one I use the most, is TitanTV. It has a clean, sharp grid, and clicking on a title pops up a window with show details. The window includes buttons that allow you to send program listings to your PC's PVR, a favorites list, or to a reminder function.

I customized TitanTV and encourage you to do the same. For instance, once you register, click the Command Center in the toolbar and choose Command Center Preferences. Then choose Programming Guide from the menu on the left. I unchecked "Short Descriptions" in the Customize Programming Guide Preferences menu in order to keep the grid uncluttered. And I checked "PopUp Menu" so a small box appears with the program description as I hover my mouse over the program's title. You can play with these preferences to your heart's content.

Zap2it is a TV grid run by Tribune Media Services, the company that TiVo uses to get its listings. I don't particularly like Zap2it for a few reasons. The site's more cluttered; and compared to TitanTV, it doesn't have nearly as rich a feature set. For instance, TitanTV has a cool tool to send data to a PVR; Zap2it didn't appear to offer anything similar (and if it did, I couldn't find it).

Getting a channel lineup on the Web is easy. But if you're using a rooftop antenna, and feeling limited in what you can watch, you may be thinking it's time to plunge into the dark, sordid world of cable or satellite TV. Take your pick: Do you want a good picture but lousy customer service? Or maybe lousy customer service and a good picture? (Don't get me started on outsourced customer service, at least not in this column.) Our Consumer Watch editor, Anne Kandra, takes on the question in an article that, unlike your cable bill, has no additional taxes, service charges, or costs. Read "The Cable-or-Satellite Conundrum."

Dig This: Here's a funny McDonald's ad about a fisherman and his wife. [555KB video]

The Ins and Outs of HDTV

I've been pretty happy with the old 27-inch TV in the living room, and my resistance to move to digital is enormous. I look at it from a curmudgeonly point of view: The thing works; the picture's fine; and I really don't want to hassle with a new technology or fiddle with another hundred cables to make things work. (Yeah, sure, you're thinking I'm just getting old; I'm thinking I'm getting smarter.)

Think I'm making too big a thing of it? Dan Tynan, the Gadget Freak, explains how Hollywood (commonly known in southern California as "Hollyweird," which is another story altogether) is making the life of digital TV viewers challenging. The entertainment giants are fretting over older HDTVs being able to copy programs to VCR, digitize the results, and share them online. Read "Whose TV Is It, Anyway?" to see why I want no part of it, at least for now.

But I strive to be even-handed, so here's a dissenting point of view: In "New Living Room Wish List," Senior Associate Editor Anush Yegyazarian, who is barely half my age, puts together eight products she'd like FedEx to deliver to her door. Most of it doesn't interest me; but I have to admit that a wireless TV sounds awfully appealing.

If you're intrigued by all this, check out "How to Buy a Home Theater System." It'll give you a better sense of what you'll be in store for, as well as a few things to drool over.

One gizmo you might need for your home theater system is Terk's $60 BMS-34 multiswitch. Think of it as a fancy outdoor splitter that lets you connect up to four satellite receivers to a dual-signal satellite dish. There's also input connectors for cable and a traditional roof-mounted antenna. It's a geeky device that I didn't know existed--and glad I found it. (Our Product Finder has pricing.)

Protect Yourself

Here's something to think about: If you've invested lots of money in a fancy AV system, you'd be crazy not to protect it from power surges, and lightning if you're in an area prone to thunderstorms.

For something low-priced, look at APC's $40 Premium Audio/Video Surge Protection. [Note: The site erroneously claims this model is available with and without a coax splitter (which would let you split the signal from two separate cable devices). APC's rep says that version won't ship until fall.]

Belkin sells higher-end products that are substantially more sophisticated and more expensive. For instance, the company's $200 PureAV Home Theater Power Console PF30 includes surge protection as well as filtering to remove electrical noise. And if you don't want to show off, you can get a power conditioner that slips behind the TV.

Dig This: There's no reason why dogs shouldn't earn their keep, right? So put them to work! (No dogs were harmed in the making of this small JPEG, though one felt somewhat embarrassed.)

And while we're on the subject of animals, it's my firm belief that cats are definitely dumber than dogs. Don't believe me? Check this out. (It's a small JPEG.) [Personal note from Copy Editor: I disagree. This just shows how affectionate cats are. And brave!]