(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
What's the best fireplace DVD?
A reader wonders where to find the best DVD of a fireplace scene to turn your TV into a fake holiday hearth. There are quite a few releases. Fortunately, they're relatively inexpensive, with most selling online for less than $15.
By Randy Salas
December 16, 2009 at 11:31PM
Reader Pat Alexander writes: "Do you know where to pick up a cheap DVD of the fireplace? You know, the one where nothing but the fireplace is playing on your TV. Some play christmas songs other just have crackling logs burning sounds. Do you know if anyone has reviewed the DVD's out there?"
You can find fireplace DVDs for sale just about anywhere, even at gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores. They aren't put out by major companies, nor are they typically sent out for review. So the best sources of opinions are the customer comments at Amazon from people who have actually bought the discs. And there are quite a few releases -- 33 discs with "fireplace" in the title, according to DVD Price Search. Fortunately, they're relatively inexpensive, with most selling online for less than $15.
The biggest complaints about various releases concern the audio-video quality and whether the fire is from wood or gas. The better ones seem to be the higher-priced titles. Among DVDs, the highest-rated releases at Amazon are:
The Fireplace DVD from Plasma Candy, which Amazon sells for $13.49.
Ambient Fire from Jumba Bay, for $11.99.
The Ultimate Fireplace DVD from Belles, a made-to-order DVD-R, for $10.99.
In high-def, the top-ranked Blu-ray disc is HD Moods: Fire from Topics, for only $8.99.
All of the links above go to Amazon, but you can use the DVD Price Search link to shop for lower prices. If you simply want a faux fireplace for the lowest price, the best deal, according to DVD Price Search, is Cozy Cracklin' Fireplace, which Best Buy sells online only for less than $8 shipped (although Amazon has it for $6.98 with free shipping on orders over $25). I guess you could call that a hot deal.
