Gourmet Kitchens and Flat Screen TVs, a Love-Hate Relationship

By Rob Burns

When someone thinks cooking and gourmet kitchens, TVs rarely come to mind.  My wife loves to cook and spends a lot of time in the kitchen.  She constantly gets creative ideas from the cooking channel and loves following along with her favorite shows.  However our living room TV is hard to see from the kitchen and in order for her to hear the show she has to blast everyone out of the living room with the volume set to 11.

Under Cabinet TV Mount

As you can imagine this has caused some conflict in our household as I want to watch my football games in the living room while her favorite shows are on.  So I suggested we put a TV in the kitchen for her to use while she is cooking.  Sounds like a good idea, right?  Well the problem with that scenario is she didn’t care for the look of a TV on the kitchen counter at all times and there really wasn’t any good wall space to mount one up and out of the way.  So after doing some research I found an under the cabinet TV mount that would attach a standard TV to the bottom of the cabinet and allows it to be folded up and out of the way while not in use.   Brilliant!

The installation was fairly simple with some basic tools and handyman know-how, and really allows for the best of both worlds.   My wife doesn’t miss any of her shows while in the kitchen and I can watch my games in peace in the living room.

It seems another marriage has been saved!  Now my next venture is to talk her into letting me get that new 60” flat screen TV mounted in the bedroom.  The battle continues….

Rob Burns is president of http://wall-mount-tv-brackets.com an etailer of high quality wall mount tv brackets.  His site offers everything from low prices and great selection, to Free Shipping and how-to videos that show you how to site, assemble and mount your flat TV.

Wall Mount TV Bracket: How to enjoy the big game without roughing the passer.

By Rob Burns

Its football season and what better time to buy a new flat screen TV so you and your friends can enjoy all the action.  Today’s HDTV’s range in size up to a whopping 106 inches, which means it’s practically like being in the huddle. With this kind of setup and surround sound, you can feel the hits.  Speaking of which, this is definitely not the time that you would want your new set to fall off the wall mount TV bracket to cream you or a guest.  Particularly if you and your buddies are armchair quarterbacks who react viscerally to every play, this vibration coupled with an unsuitable mount could send your NFL party to the locker room or even the ER.

Let’s Go to the Instant Replay

The crazy thing is that it’s not uncommon for people to do months of research and read tons of reviews and specs when considering the purchase of a new TV.  If you’re like me my TV is part of the family. It receives more attention from every member of the household than anything else.  If you don’t believe me, ask my wife. The average US viewer watches 28 hours of TV per week, so it’s understandable that we do so much research before investing in something that takes up so much of our lives. The problem is that what people don’t consider are the TV accessories.  You may have invested thousands on your new family entertainment center and then you grab the cheapest TV mount you can find to hang it on the wall.  Really?

Worst yet, there are a number of options to consider before purchasing a mount. First of all, consider that the mount can outlast the TV.  So while you may replace that new set in a few years, if you choose a durable mount it can be transferred to the new TV without any additional installation headaches. The second thing to consider is location.  Where are you planning on mounting the TV?  If you get a basic flat mount you may be losing out on a variety of viewing angles. 

Back to the Huddle

Perhaps you have a kitchen or dining room within sight of the living room.  If you considered purchasing an articulating TV mount you could pull the TV away from the wall and swivel it toward the viewers in the adjacent room.  Maybe you wanted to mount the TV over the fireplace but settled for mounting it to the wall.  With a little research you could find a great tilting mount which would angle the TV perfectly for optimal viewing even from an elevated location.

There are so many things to consider when choosing the right mount for your latest investment. Overpaying for the one the retailer has on the shelf or buying a cheap “knockoff” on EBay are some of the biggest mistakes people make when choosing the best mount for their application. Take a moment and really plan your installation, choose the best location and explore your options.

Finding and installing the right TV wall mount doesn’t have to be intimidating; with a little planning and a quality product you will enjoy your mount for years to come, without having to endure the agony of defeat.

Rob Burns is an armchair quarterback and owner of Wall Mounts Plus, which specializes in wall mount TV bracket sales and installation.  For more information, go to his site at http://www.wall-mount-tv-bracket.com/  There you will find not only a world class selection of wall mounts at great prices, but you will also find helpful how-to videos that make selecting a site and installing your wall mount TV bracket penalty free. 

Wall Mount TV Bracket: I’m looking for a cheap TV wall mount

The dictionary has two definitions for the word “cheap,” one meaning “low cost” which for most of us is the definition we are seeking when typing the word in a search.  However, the other definition is “of poor quality” which is reminiscent of the time honored saying that “You get what you pay for.”

When you are searching for a bargain on the internet you generally are trying to get a healthy blend of high quality and low cost or in other words a value.  This is also true in the TV wall mount industry.  With the explosion of television technology in the last few years, owning a high quality flat screen TV is within everyone’s reach.  Most people even have one of these TVs in every room of their home and the popularity of mounting these TVs on the wall is an ever growing design trend.

The problem is the public isn’t educated about the levels of quality with these TV mounts.  Some consumers still purchase their mounts from the big box retailers where they purchase electronics, which is fine since they offer quality products.  The problem is in order for retailers to make up the low profit margins on the electronics they sell, they tend to mark up the accessories by upwards of300%!  This is why many consumers choose to shop for TV wall mount brackets online.  When shopping online, many people make the common mistake of comparing by price only.  With the high demand of these products many online retailers are importing inferior products in order t to stay competitive.   So what should a consumer do?  Is there a happy medium?

The most important things that a consumer needs to consider when choosing a wall mount TV bracket is what kind of quality am I getting?  Some low end brackets are so flimsy that they actually flex.  While this may suffice with a small flat screen TV, would you want to risk your $1,000 sixty inch model on one of these things?  Probably not.  Also, you want to make sure that you are dealing with a dealer who has is experienced at wall mount installation, not someone who is simply buying and reselling products from China.  Last but not least, is the vendor accessible by email and phone.  Steer clear of etailers whose address is a PO box and who have neither phone number nor email address listed on their site.   Also be wary of online shops that low ball the price only to over inflate the shipping to make up the difference.

The bottom line when it comes to shopping for wall mount TV brackets is that there are “deals” out there that can save you 60% or more over retail without sacrificing quality in the bargain.  There are experienced individuals like myself who spent years installing flat screen TVs for both consumers and businesses.  There is a solution to giving you the perfect balance of quality and accountability at a price that makes sense for everybody. 

Rob Burns is president of http://wall-mount-tv-brackets.com an etailer of high quality wall mount tv brackets.  His site offers everything from low prices and great selection, to Free Shipping and how-to videos that show you how to site, assemble and mount your flat TV.