Vizio TV and TV Mount Review

After having an ample time to get really see how these products have worked under everyday use I am finely telling you my pros and cons of these products.

First up the TV. I got a Vizio 32" 720P LCD, model VO320E. I ordered it from dell.com for $350 + tax. I have now seen this TV for less but at the time it was a pretty good deal. Over all the TV has a very good picture, and a few nice features. I have my 360 plugged into the second component, and every time I switch to it, it remembers to go straight to the 360. One thing lacking is that the remote does not have a button to switch to the VGA. Another draw back is the built in speakers. I find them to be rather lacking in the sound quality department. I do have it hooked up to another sound system so I do not use the built in speakers. The time is takes to change channels is a little slow, but it's not big enough to warrant not buying it. The one other thing that some might find annoying is the little Vizio logo is always glowing, when off, it glows orange when on it turns to white. I have the TV in my bedroom and the light does not bother me but it might bother others. In the end I would say it is a good HDTV, definitely worth what I paid for it.

Now for Dell.com
When I was ordering the TV I was also offered a free 6' HDMI cable (a $30 according to dell). Once I got my order confirmation I saw that I was charged for the cable. I called dell and they told me that they could not do anything until I received it. Once I got it I called again, got transferred all around and finely got to someone who could help me. In the end I was told that the website was wrong and that the free HDMI cable was supposed to have ended months ago. In the end I shipped the cable back to them and got a full refund. I still find it unacceptable that dell would not update something like this.

Lastly the TV mount
The TV mount from MountsandMore.com I got was a Peerless Paramount Universal Tilting LCD/Plasma Wall Mount. The TV mount feels well built and sturdy. It did take two people to put it up, so I would not recommend trying it by yourself. The way the mount tilts is nice. You can choose between a few preset angles or just set your own. The best thing about it is that you don't need any tools to adjust it. The ratchets that you loosen are attached to the mount, a nice touch. The biggest draw back is that it can be a little difficult to plug stuff into the back of the TV because it is so close to the wall, but if you tilt the TV it is okay. Another nice thing about the mount is that it's not too hard to take the TV off the wall. All it takes is a screw driver. It's not so easy that I would do it often, but it's not to much work if you want to move it to watch the Super Bowl.

Civilization IV: Colonization - My Thoughts

I have been a long time Colonization fan. When I heard that they were remaking the game I was very excited, this was something I had been waiting for for a long time. The original Colonization was one of those games that was fun but also had some big time annoyances that hindered the experience. This remake has fixed all of those.

So far there are only two things that have been removed that I miss from the original game. The first is the “go-to” command. The other is when you tell your ships to head to the new world from Europe, you can't pull it back if you accidentally send the ship.

My only other complaints with the game is that the music is not as good as it was in Civ 4, and you can't make a colonist work if he has half a turn and it does not tell you this. The first time it happened to me I thought it was a glitch in the game.

Now for what I like, of which there is a lot.

• Everything has been stream lined, you can load and unload cargo with 2 clicks of the mouse.

• The way you get Founding Fathers is awesome. If you do lots of trading it will be easier to get economic founding fathers. Same if you are doing lots of fighting you will have an easier time getting military minded founding fathers.

• The king has been made out to appear mean. The way he looks and the sound work together nicely

• When you give into the king and kiss his ring, it makes you feel weak for giving into him.

• The natives no longer randomly attack you. They also no longer attack every treasure wagon they see.

• No DRM besides needing the disk to play, not even an install code.

• The $29.99 price point is nice break.

Overall I think this is a very well done remake of the original game, if you were a fan of that this is a must buy game. If you have never played a Colonization game now would be a great time to try one out.

Review: America's Army: Rise of a soldier (Xbox)

Ok, so I just got America's Army: Rise of a soldier from my friend the other day. I have only played though about half of the game and all I can say is that I am impressed. The graphics are what you would expect for a Xbox game. The only thing I didn't like was when the guys talk their body's move but there lips don't, not huge, just looks kinda weird. The sounds from the game are one of it's best assets, all the guns have there own unique sounds. You can tell what the enemy is shooting at you with just based on the sound of the gun. The gameplay is very fun. It's mainly team based, cause it's made by the army. But some times you are on your own. There are only two things I find wrong with this game. One the training you have to do is boring and kinda tedious. The other is that there is not to many missions to play. Once you have beaten the game you are left with the multiplayer. Which I have tried and it wasn't too bad. There just wasn't a whole lot of games to choose from and the ones that were there were hard to play in just because of the talent level of the other gamers.

Overall: 7 out of 10
Gameplay(cause that all that matters in my book) 9 out of 10