Archive for March, 2010

The Buzz on Blu-ray

March 25th, 2010 by admin

If you’re ready to make Blu-ray part of your home entertainment system, now is great time for it! Features and performance are better than ever, and prices on electronics can’t be beat especially if you choose rent-to-own. Trying to choose a Blu-ray disc player can be a little confusing with so many different brands and features available. To make the decision easier, let’s get back to the Blu-ray basics:

What is a Blu-ray player?
A Blu-ray player is a high-definition machine that is required to play Blu-ray discs. These special discs look like regular DVD discs, but are designed to store about six times more data than a DVD can. It’s called “Blu-ray” because the disc uses Blue Laser technology to hold film content at HDTV resolution.
Keep in mind that if you want to watch a Blu-ray movie, then you need a Blu-ray player because Blu-ray discs will not work in a regular DVD player. However, Blu-ray players will play any regular DVD as well, so there’s no need for two machines. There are many well-known brands that make Blu-ray players such as Apple, Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp and Sony.

What’s so special about Blu-ray?
Just as movies and TV shows on DVD look a lot better when compared to VHS, Blu-ray video takes a step above DVD quality. That’s because Blu-ray is high-definition quality – a full 1080p – where DVD images max out at 480p. When you pair a Blu-ray player with a 1080p display, you can enjoy the most detailed picture possible. Don’t worry though – you’ll still get an impressive HD picture if you have a 720p or 1080i TV set. Stop by your HomeTown ColorTyme store and experience the amazing difference between DVD and Blu-ray movies for yourself!

What are some features of a Blu-ray player?
With high-definition video quality, Blu-ray players use high-definition audio to with it from Dolby and DTS. Each company has developed premium sound formats to support Blu-ray discs using advanced forms of audio compression. Look for next-generation surround sound like Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.
Several models have either built-in Wi-Fi or the ability to accept an optional wireless USB, which is convenient especially if you don’t have an Ethernet jack near your Blu-ray player. This means you can get to the Internet from your player to access an infinite amount of content including streaming movies.
Some models, like the upcoming BD590 from LG, even have a built-in hard drive that acts as storage space where you can hold music, photos and videos up to 250 GB!
Also, several major brands including Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, have announced their first 3D Blu-ray players. Arriving later this year, these players will be able to play 3D Blu-ray discs.

Why is now a good time to get a Blu-ray player?
Blu-ray player prices have been getting more affordable – even for fully featured top-rated players from major brands. In addition, a retail report published by Blu-ray.com shows that the price gap between Blu-ray discs and DVDs has been getting smaller. For example, online retailer Amazon is now offering a great deal of Blu-ray titles for between $10 and $20, only a few dollars apart from DVD prices.
Choosing rent-to-own is an affordable way to enjoy Blu-ray. In addition to computers, appliances and furniture, your Hometown ColorTyme has popular brand-name Blu-ray players loaded with features. Let your local store know which one you’ve been eying and we’d be happy to deliver and install it into your home entertainment system at no extra charge when you open an account with ColorTyme!

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Posted in: Products

ColorTyme’s $30K Giveaway

March 11th, 2010 by admin

We recently awarded 30 of our rent-to-own customers with $1,000 each! Take a look at the following press release and list of winners:

PLANO, Texas – March 5, 2010 – Thirty ColorTyme customers recently cashed in as names were drawn for the $30K Giveaway, and countless others won in-store prizes.
Held in celebration of the company’s 30th birthday, ColorTyme’s $30K Giveaway gave customers a chance to win $1,000 along with instant prizes in local stores. Rent-to-own customers registered for the grand-prize drawings Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 at their hometown ColorTyme store.
Out of 30 winners from 14 states across the U.S., four of them registered in Texas stores owned by TLH Enterprises. Vice President of South Texas Region for TLH Enterprises, Donald Salais, was very happy to see long-time customers win in Beeville, Corpus Christi, Rosenberg and Cuero.
“Many of our customers didn’t think they had a chance at winning, so it was refreshing to see the smiles on their faces when they did,” said Salais. “I think the Giveaway really encouraged our customers and showed how much we value their business.”

As part of the Giveaway event, ColorTyme also provided customers with a winning serial number that matched various prizes. Many customers automatically received big savings off a new rental or walked away with one of the store’s newest appliances, furniture, computers or electronics such as a name-brand TV.

“Our $30K Giveaway was a way for us to give back to our customers and thank them for all of their support over the years,” said ColorTyme Director of Marketing, Amy Woods. “Our customers are like family, so it was important that everyone who visited ColorTyme during the promotion came out a winner.”

Winners
Dorothy McKown – Opp, AL
Teri Pike – Woodland, AL
Lidia Abaloyan – San Diego, CA
Neille Logan-Underwood – San Diego, CA
Judith Ann Archer – Temecula, CA
Frank Welcome – Panama City, FL
Robert Higginbotham – Middleburg, FL
Christopher Cooper – Jacksonville, FL
Sacoya Proctor – Hephzibah, GA
Micky Jimison – Fairfield, ID
Danny Shannon – Hutchinson, KS
Carlos Heredia Liudres – Garden City, KS
Lee Jones – Oxford, KS
James Kelley – Lexington, KY
Lee Lyons – Raceland, LA
Susie Moore – Baltimore, MD
Denise Fletcher – Landover Hills, MD
David Rogers – Waterville, ME
Shaun Bennett – South Paris, ME
Sheila Hobbs – La Grange, NC
Beatrice Bennett – Roanoke Rapids, NC
Paula Ramos – Beeville, TX
Abram Mendoza – Corpus Christi, TX
Jackie Hahn – Cuero, TX
Bobby King Jr. – Richmond, TX
Katrina Trimiew – Richmond, VA
Carlton Davis – Norfolk, VA
Nikkia Clayton – Fredericksburg, VA
James Howard – Richmond, VA
Dennis Francis – Aberdeen, WA

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Posted in: ColorTyme News

Where does the name ‘ColorTyme’ come from?

March 3rd, 2010 by admin

In the late 1950s, George Curtis Mathes, Jr.’s corporation entered the television manufacturing market, and soon began producing a line of color televisions. Over the next twenty-odd years color televisions began popping up in households across America, but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that the color television started to overtake the longstanding black and whites in living rooms. Just like today’s flat screen televisions, the new technology was expensive, so it took a while for retail prices to drop low enough that an average American family could afford to have a color television in their home.

However, Curtis Mathes wasn’t looking to compromise the quality of his product to meet ideal selling prices. When Curtis Mathes began manufacturing televisions he had one major goal in mind; to have the most well-built, reliable and expensive television on the market. He did. And, they were. The televisions were so well built that each set had a four year warranty, which was unheard of at the time – and today for that matter. But, if consumers wanted the best they were going to have to pay for it.

So, by the end of the 1970s Curtis Mathes had perhaps the finest color television set in the world, but because of its price tag most Americans couldn’t afford to purchase it. That’s when Willie Talley stepped in and partnered with Curtis Mathes. Willie had an ingenious concept, “ColorTyme.” Willie believed at the time that it was “tyme” for all households to have “color” television…hence ColorTyme. While he didn’t expect the name to become so quickly dated, it has stuck over the years.

Willie’s idea materialized in Athens, Texas in 1979, where the first ColorTyme rent-to-own store opened. With the store’s opening came the opportunity for every average American family to purchase the finest color television available. Curtis Mathes didn’t have to sacrifice quality, and any American household could now afford to move from the era of black and white into the time of color.

Today, ColorTyme is the nation’s oldest franchisor of independently owned and operated rent-to-own stores and offers not just TVs and electronics, but also appliances, computers and furniture. Thanks to the most expensive television set in America.

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Posted in: ColorTyme News