ElGuapo

I bought a Sony KDL-55NX810 used through a classified ad. Cool TV, has Youtube and Hulu and Pandora and Netflix and a bunch of other stuff. But the TV seems to already have those features set up under the previous owner's account. Like there's 88 Pandora stations and I tried Hulu and it let me watch a show but did it charge the previous owner?!! I think I need to get his info off the TV somehow and register my own info, don't I?

I'm setting up a theater room. Pretty basic, components will all run to AV receiver with HDMI out to the projector. However, I'd love to be able to mirror whatever's playing on the projector screen onto a small TV 50 feet away above the kitchenette bar. The AV receiver only has one HDMI out, and the projector has no outputs at all. Is there some way to do this? Thanks!

I know an appraiser's job is tough, but I hate the way it works these days. Appraiser gets randomly assigned, and knows he won't take any heat as long as the appraisal doesn't look too high. So here I am, refinancing a non-FHA conventional mortgage on a high-end home with few to no comparables. Just last February it appraised at $602,000 before the landscaping or half of the cabinetry were in. Over the summer I've put nearly $100,000 more into the house, and then today I get the new appraisal: $480,000.

I realize it's based on comps, but appraisers have all kinds of adjustments they make and this one just stayed very conservative. Not to mention two of his first three comps were short sales from outside the neighborhood. I don't have access to comps to say he should have used something else. But how do I get him to give a reasonable value for the differences between my house and these comps? I have the February appraisal in hand and that appraiser used vastly different adjustment figures.

Incidentally the home was built last year and total cost is close to $800,000, so it's not like the February appraisal was outrageously high. Do these guys answer to anyone? The guy owns his own appraisal business so it's not like I can call his boss and complain.

I built a new house and have the old one listed for sale, but like everybody out there I can't find a buyer even though it's a great house at an unbelievable price. I don't want to rent it out, so I'm looking for other options. My question is, if someone owns a smaller home and wants to trade up to this one, could we just swap, with them paying the difference in value?

I'm just thinking this might open up more possibilities with people who'd like to move up but don't want to deal with selling a house themselves. And for me it helps by freeing up some equity and reducing the financing cost of that extra house. Has it been done? Are there resources to check out? Any difficulties with taxes? Thanks!

OK so I wanted to get Fantastic Mister Fox, but it's no longer available at the Red Box. I don't do Netflix, haven't been to a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video in years. Is there a way to get this movie online and somehow get it onto my TV?

I'm embarrassed to even be asking this, but I'm at my wit's end. We have a new house and I'm setting up my office. There's a floor outlet under the desk, so I'm trying to plug in my surge protector. Only it won't go in. It's got three prongs, and so does the floor outlet. But there seems to be something blocking it. It's hard to see under the desk even with a flashlight, but I think there may be plastic clips of some kind in the outlet that are getting in the way. Is it something I'm supposed to remove before first use? I unscrewed the outlet cover and had a look at the plug but there's nothing obviously amiss here. Other outlets in the house have not caused problems like this, so maybe it's something specific to floor outlets? Thanks!

i'm visiting here and can't figure out the significance of those blue lights in the intersections.

Our new kitchen includes a small vegetable sink which has now been purchased and installed. What I didn't realize is that the drain opening on this sink is only 2 inches (sink details here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011YHVN8/ ). The plumber is telling me he's not aware of a disposer that fits this size drain, which is a real bummer. Any ideas outside of pulling out this sink and attempting to return it? Thanks!

My brother-in-law works for a landscape company. Last week one of his mowers broke down partly due to him accidentally running over something. The cost to repair is $200. His boss thinks he should be responsible for the entire bill. Is this legal?

So I'm thinking about buying a lot to eventually build a house on, but I don't see anything on my lender's website about this. I understand you can get construction loans, but what if you just want to buy the lot and not worry about getting a house built right away? Is there a specific type of loan I should be looking for, something it's normally called in the industry? Any national discount brokers you're aware of who do this sort of thing? I'd prefer to avoid local banks and credit unions.

Thanks for any help you can offer. I'm in Utah, current homeowner, excellent income and credit and could make whatever down payment is necessary.

OK so I'm a little naive. I'm staying in Korea and asked the hotel concierge where to go to find American DVDs with Korean language translations. (I'm American and wanted the Korean versions to practice my language skills.) So I go where he directs me and these street vendors have a catalog you can choose movies from. I get five of them for a ridiculously cheap price. That made me suspicious but the deal was already done when I see him putting plain-label writable DVDs in all the cases.

So anyway I take these back to the hotel and not only are they what they promised to be, but they're actually region-free which is a huge plus. I later found legitimate versions of some of these DVDs at a chain bookstore, but they're Region 3 which means I can't watch them on my home DVD player anyway. Frustrating!

I'm going back to the states soon and would love some feedback. Do people do this all the time or would it be crazy to bring them back? I wouldn't even mind paying full price, but oddly enough it's only the pirated versions that will work on a U.S. DVD player. Maybe I should buy the legitimate version too even though I can't use it, just so I can claim the right to own a copy of it?

OK so I'm a little naive. I'm staying in Korea and asked the hotel concierge where to go to find American DVDs with Korean language translations. (I'm American and wanted the Korean versions to practice my language skills.) So I go where he directs me and these street vendors have a catalog you can choose movies from. I get five of them for a ridiculously cheap price. That made me suspicious but the deal was already done when I see him putting plain-label writable DVDs in all the cases.

So anyway I take these back to the hotel and not only are they what they promised to be, but they're actually region-free which is a huge plus. I later found legitimate versions of some of these DVDs at a chain bookstore, but they're Region 3 which means I can't watch them on my home DVD player anyway. Frustrating!

I'm going back to the states soon and would love some feedback. Do people do this all the time or would it be crazy to bring them back? I wouldn't even mind paying full price, but oddly enough it's only the pirated versions that will work on a U.S. DVD player. Maybe I should buy the legitimate version too even though I can't use it, just so I can claim the right to own a copy of it?

OK so I'm a little naive. I'm staying in Korea and asked the hotel concierge where to go to find American DVDs with Korean language translations. (I'm American and wanted the Korean versions to practice my language skills.) So I go where he directs me and these street vendors have a catalog you can choose movies from. I get five of them for a ridiculously cheap price. That made me suspicious but the deal was already done when I see him putting plain-label writable DVDs in all the cases.

So anyway I take these back to the hotel and not only are they what they promised to be, but they're actually region-free which is a huge plus. I later found legitimate versions of some of these DVDs at a chain bookstore, but they're Region 3 which means I can't watch them on my home DVD player anyway. Frustrating!

I'm going back to the states soon and would love some feedback. Do people do this all the time or would it be crazy to bring them back? I wouldn't even mind paying full price, but oddly enough it's only the pirated versions that will work on a U.S. DVD player. Maybe I should buy the legitimate version too even though I can't use it, just so I can claim the right to own a copy of it?

Hi, going on a trip with my wife to Seoul in April. We'd love to get out of the city one day and do some hiking, but nothing too high adventure. I'd rather avoid anything too strenuous or dangerous. Any ideas of places that are accessible by subway or bus from where we're staying near the COEX?

Looking for something I can exercise to in the morning.

I've never owned a sound system, just used the TV speakers, but we're getting a new Sony Bravia Z4100 HDTV and I'm thinking it'll be worth doing now. The good news is the previous homeowner actually wired the living room for home theater. (I have four little red/white speaker plug-ins on the walls, two on the side, two behind the couch.)

But I don't have a clue where to begin. I was only thinking of spending $300–400 at the most. Looking at amazon.com just now, I see that there are "receivers" (whatever those are) that cost thousands, and that doesn't seem to include speakers. What exactly should I be looking for? I don't plan to get a BD player, but I will have HD satellite TV. Oh, and can anyone tell me what 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 means when it comes to speaker systems? (Yes, I'm really that clueless.)

Thanks!

I need to replace the tires on my 2005 Toyota Sienna, and the manufacturer recommendation is P215/65R16, 35 PSI. But I talked with my father-in-law yesterday and he says he would get 44 PSI for better mileage. Is he right?

I'm getting the tires from Sam's Club, FIL said to look for Toyo brand if they have them. Other thoughts? I live in Utah so we get snow, but I only put about 12,000 miles a year on the van.

Just got back from my first ever trip to Ireland and the U.K. Can anyone tell me what the bright yellow fields are? I'm not talking about the gorse that grows wild all over Ireland, but what appears to be a crop. If it helps, I was in the Derbyshire area.

I have a chance to travel to Derbyshire County in England this coming May, where my father's family originates. (I live in the U.S.) Would love to do some family research, but don't have any contacts in the area and don't know where to start. Has anyone tried this? Maybe a local parish, or even a professional genealogist could help if I could track one down.