Is this really a surprise, though? À la carte anything’s value is a sliding scale from “great” for those who want less things, and “bad” for those who want more things. At some point, it becomes advantageous to buy a group of things that includes all of the things you want for a discounted price (i.e. a cable…

For me, it’s a toss-up between its much better interface and the fact that it puts me in control of how/if my data is stored in the cloud.

They store your data completely differently. LastPass stores your passwords in the cloud for you on their servers, which makes it a target for hackers (and it was successfully hacked last year). 1Password doesn’t actually host your data for you, but rather gives you some options to sync your (encrypted) data with some…

Me too. You can get a great singe remote experience without being held hostage by a single TV’s software using a universal remote, such as the Logitech Harmony line.

So, as displays, they are solid and the added value of having a single remote and no dongles/addons hooked to just stream contents, it feels like a great deal to me.

They have definitely improved, but I’m just not sold on the business model. There’s no real incentive for a TV manufacturer to continue delivering updates to your set. I think dedicated streaming device manufacturers have more of an incentive (since that’s their core business).

The one time I actually sold an iPhone instead of letting it collect dust, I did well selling it on Facebook. I just posted what it was with lots of high quality photos, even of the bad parts (the ding here, scratch there, etc.). A high school friend who was deployed overseas messaged me almost immediately. He…

Picking a TV purely based on picture quality literally guarantees you’ll get a Smart TV.

Yeah, WebOS is supposedly better than most “smart TV” software. I think you did the right thing, though. Pick the TV based on picture/budget, and if it happens to be a good smart TV, then great, if not, make it a good one for <$50 if you’re on a tight budget, or a great one for a bit more.

That’s great to hear about WebOS. I was speaking generally. There might still be good Smart TV’s, but my point was that even in that case: who cares? You can just pick a TV based on the picture quality and add a streaming device and not be held hostage by the smart TV’s software (not only just for updates, but also if…

Exactly. Even *if* the software happens to be good (like maybe a Roku TV), who cares? You can get a Roku TV stick that does the same thing for $40, basically turning any TV into a Roku TV without being held hostage in your decision making process by which TV’s come with good software and which don’t.

Yup. I have a Panasonic Smart TV with Netflix, but the app sucks. Even when it works it sucks. I didn’t pick it because of the software, it just happened to be a smart TV because it was the best-in-class plasma.

Roku TV is an exception since the Roku platform is actively maintained. But still, I don’t think that you’ll find any/many Roku TV’s at the top of any list that includes all TV’s when looking at picture quality. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad deal. And that doesn’t mean that it’s not the right choice for some people.…

Just dropping by to point out that buying a TV based on its software is never a good idea. Traditionally, updates are slow-to-non-existent. The software will become outdated way before your TV does. You’re better off buying a TV based on the panel/backlighting, and then pairing it with a streaming device. The…

OMG the deal on the M50x’s is incredible. I paid $168 for them about a year ago.

OMG the deal on the M50x’s is incredible. I paid $168 for them about a year ago.

Wow, $15! As a fellow inhabitant of NYC, I agree that living here is better than a beefy portfolio - it’s a special place. It sounds like you bought something, which is even better. Real estate is the way to go.

I commented above with my Chipotle investment story, but just wanted to comment on this:

I consider myself to be an intelligent person, but I am very much a novice investor. I recently decided to take some savings and dabble in the stock market.

Found a TED talk on it - very interesting stuff, thanks.

Maybe skip e-mail one morning and clean that keyboard instead. Yuck.