By the staff of Digital Family Advisor…

Question: I was told that I could solve some of my standard two line phone interference problems by switching from a standard two line phone to a DECT phone. But I also was amazed that very few warehouse stores and even office supply stores sell two line phones anymore and when available (online) they are priced about three times as much as they were only five years ago. I also wanted to know that I am working from home whether I can connect a Magic Jack System to my second line. And can you recommend a two-line DECT phone that is reasonably priced?
Answer: Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology (DECT) phones are more and more replacing other cordless home and office phones that worked within a frequency that also happens to be used by many wireless devices. In the last few years, even some of the best made phones from Panasonic and branded phones with the AT@T and Verizon logos reportedly (and in our households too) remitted extra noise when talking…hung up unexpectedly and or sounded strange if you had wireless speakers, powered hard drives; security systems too close to the base phone or your desktop or laptop computer. DECT phones broadcast (supposedly) on a frequency that does not interfere with other wireless devices.

Panasonic was the biggest offender of telephone interference because they were the biggest seller of two line and other cordless phones. So they were the first to switch over to the DECT system with a product you could purchase in most any store. However their models are very pricey. VTech which makes phones for many brands also has their own brand of DECT phone and they have a very stylish design. Our choice is the Uniden 4096 prices around $130 with one extra handset. The Uniden models (they also have a unit t whose base model is cordless for a few bucks more) seem to have the least complaints and also (no matter where you can purchase them) seem to be priced at about $25 to $50 less than the more famous brands.

We used the Uniden 4096 with Magic Jack (as our second line) and we also used it as a conventional second line and found the Uniden models very reliable. Uniden’s web site has better setting up directions than the printed materiel in the box. Uniden’s extra handsets had a longer battery life than most other brands if you leave the handset out of the charger like we often to do. And while we’ve heard that some wireless devices now can conflict with DECT technology, the Uniden models have been very clear so far. The reason you may have trouble purchasing two-line phones, is that with the popularity of mobile phone use at home and Skype and other online phones services, sales of two-line phones have dropped considerably so brick and mortar retailers are reluctant to stock many models.

Q: Digital Family Advisor has been hawking those Flip cameras as if you owned stock in the company. Recently I had to return my Flip Mino to Best Buy and my wife’s Flip Slide to an online store. In both cases the units locked up and unlike other cameras we’ve had, there was no way to reset the camera except letting the battery die. I was lucky in that I salvaged the pictures because they were also on my PC and my Flipshare account. Up until now I thought yours and other reviewers were terrific in touting the Flip, but now I am not so sure. Do you have any suggestions for our next budget priced camera and what happened to Flip?

A: Nothing happened to Flip except maybe that the Giant Cisco corporation purchased the entire company and we too have had some problems with several of their models. Perhaps, now that Flip is the top selling mini camcorder in North America and soon the world, Flip has expanded too quickly, so their infrastructure is having growing pains. We are testing their newest models as we speak, but in the meantime, we are liking the once entry level and now feature rich DXG line of affordable camcorders, many of which also serve as a digital still cameras too for only a little more than the top of the line Flip. In addition, the once dormant Kodak brand is selling a line of camcorders that have a terrific lens and more storage than the flip for around the same price. Kodak’s Playtouch, only on the market for the last month or so, has garnered some high praise, while the DXG A85V has outsold the Flip at some online and retail locations.

The Kodak Playtouch (selling for around $200) features a 3-inch capacitive touch-screen that works up to to a true 1080p HD, while also offering 5 MP still pictures and a very competitive video sharing built-in digital image stabilization. Like the Flip it has a built-in USB arm for easy sharing, charging, and transferring and a LCD glare shield feature. It also has 4 capture effects, including B&W, sepia, high saturation, and ‘70s film look with an included HDMI cable.

Q: Right before the recession I sprung for some top of the line 5.1 channel speaker systems from award winning Klipsch. The model (The Quintet) that I use in my den sounds terrific, but some of the external speakers literally fall down..or that is the woofer and tweeter drop from their cradle. What can I do about this as it makes my den look strange as if flowers wilted and more importantly it affects the sound because I have to keep propping those speakers up.

A: Unfortunately, according to Klipsch, there is no known fix for the drooping speakers. The “Viagra” that’s needed to keep the speaker up and roaring was never created. Hence, last year they took that model off the market and tweeked it with a shorter more durable stand. What Klipsch told us, was that they are handling customer complains by advising that you take a thick piece of cardboard and slide it into the speakers holders. (That should look lovely on your mantelpiece.) Or at night, when no one is around take an Allen wrench and tighten the holder which might work for about a week. Why a terrific company like Klipsch was so slow to realize that had a problem with that model (especially at that price) is unacceptable.

The new Klipsch Quintet speaker has a lower base so it won’t lose its’ you know what!

Q. I have a lot of HDMI based devices like my LG Blue Ray player, my FIOS set top box, my Sony Playstation 3 and my Vizio TV to name a few. Every once in a while no matter what device I am using I lose the picture but not the sound….or the sound and not the picture or both sound and picture. I use HDMI to save on cables and it is also supposed to produce clear and sharper pictures whether I am watching a video game, a HD Blue Ray movie or just plan TV watching.

I called Verizon FIOS, LG Consumer Electronics, Vizio , TiVo and Sony and got different answers to my disappearing picture from all of them. The FIOS people said to use conventional component cables even though they take up more space. Sony said that only the Playstation should be using HDMI cables, while one guy at LG said to return the Blue Ray Player and Vizio said that using multiple HDMI cables could result in a conflict making the TV or cable box think that there is an illegal content source coming through. Who is right and what should I do? My monster HDMI cables cost an arm and a leg and when they are working my picture and sound are phenomenal?

The Monster HDMI Cable

A: Unfortunately all of the tech support advice you received is accurate except for the LG suggestion that you return the Blue Ray player. More and more cable companies and Verizon FIOS are reporting conflicts knocking off picture and sounds for customers who are using multiple HDMI cables in one TV. The Cable TV Industry Association and the HDMI engineers have not offered guidelines yet that indicate which version of HDMI cable is compatible with which cable box TV, Blue Ray Player or game system. In addition, cable boxes require their own updates which might allow multiple HDMI cable use, but many cable companies…especially Cablevision and Time Warner, fail to upgrade their set top boxes.

As far as your LG phone call went, more and more tech support personnel are being farmed out. So that LG support person’s statement was just laziness in what could should been an easy suggestion, but slightly time consuming: replace your non working device’s HDMI cables with component (red, blue and green)…(more wires but not less quality.

Q: Many TV makers, computer companies, service providers are including widgets or small applications (Apps)in their products. While these widgets offer different types of add-on content and sometimes convenient way to acquire this content while still watching your favorite show what happens when all the widgets clash with each other. For instance I have FIOS for my service provider, but a Sharp Aquos TV, Sony Blue Ray player and TiVo. So in essence I have three Netflix widgets, Four Pandora Widgets, four YouTube Widgets and I can fill my screen with widgets so thoroughly I can’t see the TV picture. What should I do, I hear there’s more widgets coming?

A: Yes they are invading living rooms and dens all over the country. But wait there’s more! Digital Family Advisor folks have even more widgets in their homes via the new Google TV by Logitech, so we’ve learned how to use them and not let them abuse our devices. First of all, The Verizon FIOS widgets, the stupidest and most unnecessary of all the widget providers requires you to turn them on to activate them so don’t turn them on! Your Sharp Widgets can pushed off the screen with a single click, so if you don’t want them click them off and they are very easy to put back on if you want them. The Sony Blue Ray player widgets are also on a separate screen that needs activating if you want them running while you watch a Blue Ray disk, so just don’t hit the main menu and concentrate on the video menu (the same with other Blue Ray players that have widgets. If you were thinking of buying the highly touted Logitech or Sony Google TV set top box, you have gotten a break. Some of their widgets (or apps) were turned off before they got out of the factory, as some of their content partners turned them off.

The FIOS widgets were found by our team to be the most useless but the easiest to get rid of.

Q: What’s wrong with Thrustmaster’s Tennis Racket for Wii Remote?

We were looking forward to playing tennis with Thrustmaster’s DUAL RACKET PACK FOR NINTENDO® Wii™ Got it home, housed the Wii remote into the racket handle as per the directions easily enough, but could not use the racket to play Wii’s Sports Tennis. We did wonder how that was going to work… the infra-red sensor at the front of the Wii remote was entirely blocked by the tennis racket’s handle.

A: Turns out Thrustmasters Tennis Rackets are designed for Wii games which take advantage of the gyro sensor in the Wii’s wand/remote. So there’s nothing wrong with the Tennis Racket, but there is something wrong with the packaging and the instructions – neither clearly mentions that you would need to have Wii games which respond to the Gyro Sensor technology of the wand!

Q: Should I use a software tool like System Mechanic to speed up my PC?

My friend mentioned that his PC was slowing down and he did some research and came away with iolo’s System Mechanic. He said that although it looked user friendly he was still hesitant to let a software dig deep down. He says he’s disinclined to use tools that require much of a learning curve.

A: He was correct in his reluctance. We are anything but ludites. But, these tools are not for the technically feint-at-heart. iolo’s System Mechanic can clear out cache and temporary files and unused shortcuts, etc. It also installs itself quite intrusively. It’ll give you a nice clean cache, but as soon as you go back into the internet or delete some files on your hard drive, your cache will start to fill again and your recycle bin will have discarded files in it and there’s System Mechanic’s little dashboard scaring you into clearing out the cache again and defragging your PC’s RAM All that work the mechanic is doing is also bogging the system down. We say, “Take your car to the mechanic for its 5,000 mile check. And just make sure you tank is full in between.”