Ordered a new entertainment center for my 'electronics wall' and my 43 inch screen died that evening and, of course, it is out of warranty. What the heck, it was a cheap Walmart Hisense Roku set that I only paid like $250.00. Right now I pulled the 32 inch out of my bedroom to use until the replacement set arrives in around 5 days. Boy, does it look small next to my 55 inch LG. Got a little better quality this time getting a Samsung 43 inch smart UHD 4K unit. Won't match the image quality of the 55 inch LG but costs half the price.
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-uhd-8-series-au8000-43/p/N82E16889356711?item=N82E16889356711
I seem to be getting the last in stock from Newegg lately. Just like with the micro computer I got as soon as I ordered it went out of stock. Seems like I'm getting in the habit of getting the last one.

BTW, this is the entertainment center I got.
https://www.newegg.com/p/0TG-04C1-00026?Item=9SIAZJVGDH8772

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Isn't that always the case on electronics failing out of warranty and right when you're making changes to the setup... At least you got a good deal on a better replacement!

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Ya, and it will be nice when the new stand arrives. The current setup was fine when I was running 42 and 32 inch screens but the current 55 inch really sits too high and gives me a crick in my neck at times.

<edit>
Looks like this new TV is going to be a bit of overkill for my usage but I did get a decent price due to it not being the newest model. I was looking through the manual and the thing will accept a USB mouse/keyboard and will run such apps as Office 365. Since it will be connected to a system anyway I see no reason to use such features but I'm sure that I try them out.

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Well everything came and is set up. I was hoping that both TVs would fit on the new entertainment center but not even close. Still have to tie up wires but everything is connected and working. Here is a before and after. I may move the larger TV to the middle of the stand but I kind of prefer to not have a gap between displays.

Before:


After:

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I like the purple lighting.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Doesn't have to be purple. It has a little remote for the USB powered LEDs. Can be red, yellow, green etc.. Also does transitions but that is distracting.

Sort of an odd thing with the LEDs. I have a power strip with 2 USB ports but the center's LEDs won't work with it. I have them plugged into a port on the back of my main system and that works fine. Will even work if the computer is off as the USB ports are still active for charging devices.

I REALLY like the new center but the instructions were useless. I got basically nowhere after 1.5-2 hours. Finally I just put an image of the finished product on a display and made the real thing look the same. That worked fine. I DID mess up though. The right hand open section has some visible holes in the front; I mounted it up-side-down. Would have to take it half apart to fix and not gonna do that. I'll just fill the holes and dab a little black paint. The holes are just to mount trim on the back which I intentionally left off as they are nothing structual. Leaves bottom openings on the back which will be good for tucking wires.

Still have more to do but it will wait. I'm wiped out and my legs are history. Building the unit and then breaking down all my electronics and putting back together was a LOT of leg bending that I'm not used to doing.

I have a bunch of cables left over but most involve a USB TV turner that hasn't worked for a while. When my body starts working again I'll try connecting it again to see if it will work or not. It will be easy to test out as I'll just connect the thing through a front USB port. If i get it working again I'll re-connect to a back port. Actually nice having the tuner as it allows me to use my system as a DVR.The tuner is handy as I also have an old JVC VCR that works fine. Through the USB turner's DVR function I can convert VHS tapes to DVD.

I did have one disappointment though but it really had nothing to do with the new unit. Modem and router are behind the center doors and are fine. I wanted the cable box hidden the same but it won't see the signals from the remote unless in line of sight. The remote must be IR, not RF.

One funny thing is that my phone was down for half the day... I couldn't find the base for the danged thing. Found it about 2 minutes after I stopped seriously looking. It was in my bedroom.

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LOL! The following is pretty much just rambling but I'm having fun even if my legs are sore.

Just about done with the thing. I think that I want to move the R/C car from the upper left to the lower right with the boat, currently in the lower right, to the upper right. I THINK that will give more 'weight' to the right side balancing things out better and the car won't block so much of the LED lights. To do this I'll have to pull out the right side to raise the glass shelf to make room for the car. Have to remove the glass shelf from the back due to the front trim on the side. Surprisingly with just 'button' feet on each end and in the middle the thing moves on my carpet without undo effort. It weighs a ton but moves OK.

The wires behind the old stand on the left with the smaller display should not be an issue as the new TV came with two clips for routing wires. The clips are supposed to go on the back of the TV but fit the upright pieces that are the sides of the shelf below the top. That will be a 2 minute fix. I left off the the bottom trim in the back of the new unit as they are not structural and leaves an opening at the bottom of the unit that will be great for tucking most of the wires under the unit.

If you look at the shelf on the left side of the old stand there used to be one on the right. I removed the right side shelf to make a perfect recess for my main system.

Oh, one addition on the new unit. My MacBook Air now lives on the Yamaha sound system under the 55 inch TV. This is not in the following image.

I think it is pretty obvious that I'm a happy camper although I need to find a new home for my pirate Eeyore. He used to sit in the chair for my corner desk but the desk is now gone. He will probably take over my easy chair. The beast is sort of my alter ego as he wears a patch on his right eye so we are both blind in the same eye.

I was thinking about seeing if I could fit the now gone corner desk in my bedroom to still use for my Asus laptop but think I'll just give away the desk. While it still works fine with Windows 10 after 11+ years I very seldom use the thing. That laptop and my Belkin router are probably the two best re-certified items I've bought. If I were to do a road trip I'd take the Macbook or my Surface before the Asus, probably both as they fit fine in a carry bag I got for the Macbook.

OK, rambling done for now.

Oh, one last thing... I get a kick out of the wood box under the R/C car. It is just such a good smilie face.

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Looking good. Ramble away.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

And I'm getting my bedroom back. I had the old small bookcase thingy stashed in my bedroom along with the corner desk and chair. Book case is already gone to a friend in the apartments. He is also going to take the desk and chair. The book case and desk I'm just giving to him but am charging $25.00 for the chair. I mean the book case and desk are just cheap Walmart stuff that served me for ~10 years that I don't think I paid over $75.00 combined. The chair is a different matter as it is a really nice chair for which I paid ~$100.00. I just can't give it away for nothing. Anyone else I'd probably charge $50.00 but this guy has proven to be a friend and we've helped each other back and forth.

After that it will just be a matter of getting rid of the blown TV and its box. Don't really know why I still have the box as the set was out or warranty but just really didn't think about it as it is stashed under my bed. The box for the new set will take over being under my bed. It sucks having to keep large boxes in an apartment but today warranties just won't be honored unless you have the original packaging. Other than that stuff I just need to place little nick knacks which are just some little blown glass stuff and the like.

Hmmm, there will still be one last item which is an Asus 27 inch monitor that I used as an external for the Asus laptop. While small compared to my other displayed it is a really nice monitor with built in speakers. I'll have to think about that. Do I keep it as an emergency screen stashed in a closet or sell it to the same guy that is getting the other stuff for $50.00. It did come in handy when the old 43 inch display went south as I moved my bedroom's 32 inch display to the living room and put the Asus monitor in my bedroom.

No major rush on anything but it will be nice to get my place back to normal Shoot, since I'm keeping but retiring my 11 year old Asus laptop I still need to pack it up for storage. Since I got an over sized carry bag for the thing I already know that it will hold the laptop and cooling plate along with the wireless mouse. Will have to see if it will also hold the wireless keyboard. If everything does fit as I THINK it will I'll just hang the bag on a heavy coat hanger at the end of my bedroom's walk-in closet.

Kind of funny but with all these changes it is almost like I'm in a new place. I like the change. LOL! Then I need to make a parking space for my bicycle. I keep the thing in my apartment instead of locked up outside to keep it out of the weather. That is simply done by moving my dinette table and bench chairs a little further away from my kitchen counter. Since I seldom have company and rarely dinner guests I really don't need all four seats available. I did this with my old bike and it worked well as the bike would just reside between the table and kitchen counter.

LOL! Guess I'm rambling again but so be it.

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As I said before, rambling is good.
Good for you to give away the extra items and almost give away the chair -- at that price, it is almost giving it away. I'm sure that regaining space as you re-organize things in the apartment is nice!

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I don't know if I've really gotten space back as when it comes to floor space the new entertainment pretty much takes the same floor space as the two pieces I got rid of. The main thing to me is that it just looks better and cleaner. I even removed a shelf on the right middle of the stand that used to hold the 55 inch screen but now holds the 43 inch. This made a perfect space for my main desktop system to reside. Even a middle shelf on the old stand fits my printer perfect. It just all fit together really well and I'm happy.

Still haven't tucked all the wires but I DO tend to procrastinate. Actually I want to replace one of the cables that being the cable from the coaxial plug in the wall to my modem. The cable going to my TV cable is fine on length but the one to the modem is excessively long. I know I have a shorter one that will be better but I have to dig through a closet and untangle a bunch of old cables to find it. I just figure the less the number of connections and the shorter the cables the better. I already got rid of one short cable that went from the wall plug to a splitter to allow the coaxial to go to both the cable box and modem. I just got rid of the cable and mounted the splitter directly to the wall outlet. The cable I want to replace is WAY longer than needed. Not sure of the length but it is at least 12 feet, possibly even 20 feet. I'll need to measure but a 6 foot cable would probably be fine.

I actually may see if the long cable will reach the coaxial input on my bedroom TV. If it does I may run it to the bedroom 32 inch TV. I don't need the cable box coaxial output for the living room as I connect the box to both displays via HDMI. Yes, the cable box has only one HDMI output but I have a powered HDMI splitter. The output from the cable box goes to the input on the splitter. The two splitter outputs go to each of the displays. The video card on my main system has multiple HDMI outputs with one going to each of the displays. This convoluted setup is what allows me to have cable on either or both displays and the same for computer output.

LOL! I'm a routing disaster when it comes to running connections but it always tends to work. Shoot, I put together my first decent level media setup way back when a 500MHz. CPU was considered fast. Just so happened that the ATI Rage Fury video card I had included S-Video output. Found S-Video to RCA cables then RCA to coaxial. Ran the coaxial under the floor through a crawl space and used more RCA to coaxial in reverse to connect to a VHS tape deck that I used as a sort of media router. Depending what input source I picked on the VCR decided what showed on the TV. The VCR output always went to the TV. Being an old CRT TV text sucked but video and sound was like putting in a DVD in a player. OK, so this is rambling again but Steve is an admin and gave permission. Did bring back some good memories though.

Anyway there is an actual reason for this post. Since I got the new entertainment center I now want to replace my coffee table which is half destroyed. I don't yet know if I'll go black or try to come to a close match of the wood grain on the new entertainment center but I really do think that I want a glass surface which could be an issue. I know that clear glass at least used to cause havoc with optical mice and assume it still will as you are just not going to get a proper reflection for the optics to properly work. What I wonder is if an optical mouse will work well on 'smoked glass'. Anyone have any personal experience with mice on glass either clear or smoked? I'd really appreciate any input on this.

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Smoked glass should work, though I've not had personal experience. You could always get a small, thin mouse pad if the glass is a problem for your mouse on the coffee table...

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Ya I already thought about the possibility of using a mouse pad and will if needed but would rather not.

I also think dark smoked glass would probably be fine and is what I want for the table as to appearance anyway. To me the clear glass shelves in the new entertainment being clear is fine but not for a table top.

I just got done doing a quick search on mice and glass and was surprised that it seems that Logitech has developed a mouse that is reported to even work on clear glass. I haven't yet looked into their mouse but it seems they are using a different type of laser. As it happens I prefer Logitech anyway.

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Found my coffee table and just ordered. Once again I hit the right time as it is on sale for $70.00 off.
I will flip it 180 degrees to have the LED lighting face the entertainment center going by the following image. The top is clear glass but the flipping 180 degrees will bring the wood part of the surface toward me for mouse use.
https://bestier.net/collections/coffee-tables/products/modern-led-coffee-tables-with-storage-for-living-room?variant=41417104687243

It isn't an exact match as to the wood part but the black should blend it all in. Here is an image. Just picture it with the LED lighted part reversed and facing the entertainment center. I think I'm going to like this.



The width of this thing is perfect for my couch and easy chair. The width is longer than my current thing and should cover the couch while leaving leg room for the easy chair. My current table length is only 35 inches. This unit is 42 inch. Does not seem like a lot of difference but will mean a lot as to the balance of it all fitting together.

I REALLY needed a drastic change and I think this is going to work well. Especially with the LED lighting my apartment will take on a 'modern look'. Since I'm a tech junkie this should fit.

I can't wait to get the new table as I really think I'm gonna love this.

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Jay, I really like your choices in new furniture. Your apartment is going to look awesome!

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

LOL! I sure hope that is true.

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Had a thought that I was going to have a problem with the LED lighting on the new coffee table as they are USB powered. Actually no issue as I have a 7 port powered USB hub that currently just sits on the floor to connect my head set and game pad. I'll just move the USB hub from the floor to a shelf on the coffee table.

So many apparent problems are solved just by looking at the whole picture instead of centering on the issue.

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Think I'm finally done shopping. Just ordered a 3X5 foot area rug for under the coffee table. I think I did pretty OK. Entertainment center, coffee table and rug for under $500.00. Total cost: $490.00. There was another rug I also liked but it has tassels on the ends and, from past experience, tassels are a pain with a vacuum.
https://bestier.net/collections/rugs-and-carpets/products/rectangle-geometric-area-rug-beige-carpet?_pos=4&_fid=a7ac64aca&_ss=c&variant=41221224398987
Now comes the hard part; waiting for the table and rug to get here.

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That's a nice rug -- and, yes, tassels are trouble with vacuums.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Ya, obviously I like the rug but part of my decision was picturing things in my mind. While the new furniture will be a bit less dark black is still going to be the dominate color. The rug should lighten things up a bit.

Personally I don't expect the rug to look the same in my place. Since it is pretty light as to color I expect/hope that it picks up color from the LEDs in the other pieces; I'm sure that it should. If it does it MAY not end up under the coffee table but in front of the entertainment center with another rug under the coffee table. That is one if the issues with buying such stuff on-line. You just don't know for sure until it arrives.

Going with the original thought of the rug going under the coffee table it would be pretty comfy with an almost half inch pile.

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Sigh, finally the table shipped. I'm not thrilled with the time it took them to ship the thing, seven days, but checkout did say 3-7 days to be shipped and it is within that time frame so can't really complain. The table is from the same seller as the entertainment center but the entertainment center came through newegg.com's market place and the table was ordered directly from the seller's store. When I review the table it will be tempting to remove a star for the long time until shipped but I have to resist that urge as it was plainly stated on their site so I knew the possibility going in. Estimated delivery is Monday August seventh.

I'm considering using a mouse pad even though one won't be needed just to protect the wood surface. My current table is a disaster largely from ten and a half years of mice running around on it wearing out the finish. Can't complain about the current table being a disaster as it was something like $25.00 or there about from Walmart and has lasted ten and a half years. This new table is more expensive with a retail of $240.00. Even though I got it on sale for $170.00 I will want to protect the thing. I like how these units are put together as they are built to last. If you have ever done assemble yourself furniture you probably know what cam-lock joints are. These units don't just use the cam-locks but also dowel pins on all joints.

Both units have the same LED lighting and the same lighting remote. I would be nice if one of the remotes handled both units but I doubt I'll get that lucky.

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Dawned om me that I'm going to have to get help moving the new coffee table as, if anything like the entertainment center, it will be heavy. I'm sure that I'll be able to move it by 'walking it' end to end but am afraid of tearing the pile on the new rug if I do that. Won't be an issue getting help so I think being safe rather than sorry is best.

Ya, the above is a short ramble but I'm excited and not good at waiting for stuff to arrive. I'll take forever to decide to buy but once I do buy I want delivery yesterday. Taking forever to decide to order is part of the reason that I tend to get good deals. I've been looking at entertainment centers and a coffee tables for months. It is like with my Yamaha sound system. Retail was $500.00 yet, by hunting and waiting, I got it for under $200.00. Man was that a deal! Got it in 2016 and it is still doing perfect. With my 'wall setup' it is also perfect as it has two digital optical audio inputs so I can use the same outputs on each of my two displays to connect. It is a Yamaha SRT-1000.

OK, now I know I'm just rambling again so I'll shut up.

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I know about not wanting to wait for delivery -- we are so spoiled these days.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Sort of odd... My new rug for under the new coffee table showed up today. What's odd is that it does not yet show as shipped. Mayhaps I'll get two of them. If I do it will bring up an ethical issue as to keep or return. I'll probably contact and offer to return as long as they pay the return shipping. In all probability they will just tell me to keep it. Can't remember what it was but it happened before once and said to just keep.

Actually good it is here early as it will have time to flatten out before the table arrives, probably Monday.

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I guess they heard your complaint about not wanting to wait for stuff to be delivered......

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BB
http://barrypatch.net