How To

When should I upgrade my HDTV?

Let's say you've had your HDTV for a few years now. Let's say you can't stop reading new TV reviews. Let's say you find excuses to stop at Best Buy to stare at the wall.

OK, you want a new TV. No problem. But do you need a new TV? Are the current models really that much better than what you have?

Let's take a look.

How to add Bluetooth streaming to any speaker

Bluetooth speakers are finally becoming more abundant, allowing you to wirelessly stream music from your phone or tablet. No docking stations, no auxilary cables. Ahh, freedom.

Ready-to-go Bluetooth speakers are convenient, but what if you already own speakers that you know and love? With Logitech's adapter, you can add Bluetooth streaming to just about any speaker for just $40.

A plug-and-play solution, the

As with any wireless streaming solution, there will be audio compression. Meaning, you'll see a slight degradation in sound quality. If that's a no-no for you, consider looking into Wi-Fi based streaming products, or if you're an Apple user, consider the Apple TV. Be warned though, these alternative solutions will set you back much more than $40.

Spring cleaning tips to take control of your movies, music

If your home media center feels fragmented and frustrating, there's good news: with a weekend or two of spring cleaning, you can make it all much easier to keep track of and enjoy. I've tried to keep this hardware-independent, though some tips assume you have networked storage or a particular operating system. Here are a few tricks and tips to get you started:

Music
This is usually the toughest library for most people to manage. Depending on the tools you use, it can be hard to effectively manage more than 10,000 individual music files, and while some more

How to recover files from an Apple TV

It's been rumored that sooner or later Apple may come out with a television with unique capabilities, but until then there's the Apple TV device for viewing movies, music, and photos on a TV.

The Apple TV syncs with iTunes and other Apple programs, so while it can stream media from computers on a network or from the iTunes Store, it can also store a fair amount of photos and other files that you can access without other systems being powered on.

While in most cases what's stored on the Apple TV mirrors what's on your more

How to watch HBO Go on your Apple TV, sort of

I love HBO Go. Love it. Having instant, on-demand access to shows like "Deadwood," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Game of Thrones," and "Extras" is all kinds of awesome.

Too bad I can't enjoy it on the ol' flat-screen. There's no HBO Go channel on my Apple TV, and the iOS apps don't allow video out. Meanwhile, Comcast doesn't support HBO Go on Roku boxes (even though most other cable providers do), so that's a no-go as well. (Comcast doesn't allow it on the Xbox, either, as Scott Stein reported earlier today.)

Thankfully, there's a workaround. Here's what you need:

How to privately stream video with VLC for Windows

How to program a 30-second skip button for Comcast DVRs

My Comcast DVR died last week, so down I went to my local Comcast office to exchange it for a new box. Although I lost weeks' worth of Modern Family (which, inexplicably, isn't offered On Demand), my DVR's death came at a good time because Comcast recently received a new fleet of cable boxes and sent me home with the Motorola RGN200N.

Years ago, I had programmed a 30-second skip button for my old Comcast DVR on my old silver remote. It was a simple process:

1. Press the Cable button at the top of the remote

2.more

Two TVs, one room

Why, you may ask? A better question: How (would you use them), and even more important, what do you need?

How to stream any music player app to AirPlay-enabled speakers

If you own an iPhone, iPad, or iPad Touch--and an AppleTV, AirPort Express, or AirPlay-enabled system--you probably already know that you can play the music from any Apple AirPlay-enabled app (like Spotify or Pandora). All you need to do is tap the button within the app that looks like this:

Suddenly, the music from the app starts emanating from the nice speakers attached to your home entertainment system (with AppleTV) or sound system (with AirPort Express). This is one of our favorite features in iOS, and frankly, we wonder why Google hasn't done something similar with Android (although it more

Morrison's Mailbag: Why is my TV's audio so low?

CNET Reader Kato asks:

I have speakers directly hooked up to my TV via the "speaker audio out." It works fine. I then hooked up additional speakers I had from a computer. Upon doing so the volume on the original speakers went way down and I get even less from the new speakers. What am I doing wrong?

Oh, so many things...