HDTV purchases over the Christmas holidays, please share your comments (VANITY)

31Jan06 | Self

[Las Vegas Dave]

Some of you may have purchased HDTV's over the Christmas break.

Please share your comments on your quest for HDTV.

[CholeraJoe]

I bought my system in October. My TV is a Sanyo PDP42-HIA 42" LCD I bought at ChinaMart and my home theater is a Panasonic SC-PT 950 with 5 disc changer, surround sound, and twin tower speakers. My DVR is a Motorola integral with my cable box.

I'm quite happy with it.

[GreenAccord]

Everyone, GC encapsulates the difference between 1080i and 1080p very succinctly. While broadcast 1080p is not going to happen anytime soon, there is still a reason to choose a 1080p set with a 120 hz processor. See this web article for the reason.

[Poser]

I bought a Vizio 42” LCD one year ago. It is still excellent. No problems, no complaints.

[Cvengr]

From http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?vgnextoid=5fa14f065a2f5110VgnVCM100000ac0a260aRCRD

High Definition (HD) Television Household Estimates
November 2007

	TV HHs	HD Capable	%	HD Receivable	%
Total U.S.	112,880,000	15,500,000	13.7	12,730,000	11.3
New York	7,391,940	1,334,840	18.1	1,293,790	17.5
Philadelphia	2,939,950	457,900	15.6	438,110	14.9
Detroit	1,925,460	238,830	12.4	212,370	11.0
Boston (Manchester)	2,393,960	399,440	16.7	388,350	16.2
Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)	2,308,290	447,160	19.4	387,680	16.8
Atlanta	2,310,490	345,680	15.0	287,710	12.5
Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)	1,783,910	296,300	16.6	277,970	15.6
Chicago	3,469,110	585,960	16.9	485,580	14.0
Houston	2,050,550	344,260	16.8	270,820	13.2
Dallas-Ft. Worth	2,435,600	425,420	17.5	364,850	15.0
Los Angeles	5,647,440	1,152,380	20.4	965,200	17.1
San Francisco-Oak-San Jose	2,419,440	397,860	16.4	320,740	13.3
Seattle-Tacoma	1,782,040	255,960	14.4	216,530	12.2

[Cvengr]

Gap persists between number of HDTV owners, HD viewers

Read the article at http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/cap_persists_between_number_hdtv_owners/index.html

Although end of next year is the reported regulatory deadline for broadcasting in the old format, sales statistics don’t quite support the projections.

[SunkenCiv]

As much as I’d love to get one (probably with a PC hookup for use with the computers), I believe I’ll have to wait. Supposedly there will be additional technologies available in 2008, and despite the analog deadline in early 2009, my guess is the prices are going to halve again. Your recommendations are always welcome, however. :’)

[Pontiac]

the highest (JVC LT-40FN97)a 77.

CNET reviews give the JVC a 6.9 out of 10.

From CNET review.

The good: Accurate primary colors and color decoding; delivers every detail of 1080i sources; solid feature set includes CableCard and picture-in-picture.

The bad: Reproduces a lighter shade of black than other high-end LCD TVs; relatively inaccurate color temperature in dark areas; PC input has limited resolution; cannot accept 1080p sources.

The primary advantage of plasmas is the crisper darker blacks.

[WackySam]

Dish has a better HD programming package than DirecTV.

If less channels with a higher price is better to you- then yes, the Dish HD package is better.

[Las Vegas Dave]

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com and sister web site http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/ are good for starts, also cnet and pcworld have reviews.

ConsumerReports reviews are dated by several months.

I like SONY because of the superior QAM tuner they have.

[WackySam]

I wish folks would quit relying on CR for high tech gear! Use CNET.com These folks have the labs, experience, and equipment to properly compare the high tech gear.

I see my Pioneer PDP-5080HD is rated #1 at CNET. It truly has an amazing picture.

[Paleo Conservative]

I got an external USB2/Firewire Blu Ray writer for Xmas that I will mostly use for archiving data, but can also use to play Blu Ray high definition BD-ROM’s. The hardware requirements are rather steep for HD video playback on a PC - dual processor or dual core 3.0 Ghz P4 or Xeon or above and at least 1 GB RAM.

[G Larry]

You betcha!

I got the 5070 in February and my sister bought the 5080 this fall.
We’re both pleased as punch!
I never took the time to learn what changed between the 5070 and the 5080.
Do you know?
ya, ya, check CNET.....I know....

[Eva]

We have not upgraded our Direct TV DVR yet, but the picture is a huge improvement. The curious thing is that my son hooked up the old set and surround sound/dvd/receiver in the basement to play dvds in the work-out room and the picture is almost as good as the new LED set. The old tv hadn’t worked that well for years, after being set up first by comcast and then by Direct TV. We would never have bothered to get a new TV if the set had been working that well.

[Chances Are]

I bought an HDMI-DVI cable for the Samsung 1080i we bought a while back. I’m using it with a Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV receiver/tuner, and it works great! If your TV has a DVI interface, this cable should work well.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Happy New Year!!!

CA....

[WackySam]

never took the time to learn what changed between the 5070 and the 5080.Do you know? ya, ya, check CNET.....I know....

The Blacks are definitely better, and the TV Guide works, other than that I'm not sure of the actuall differences.

[Species8472]

I bought a 50 inch plasma last year (visio). My project this year was to upgrade my Vista HTPC to hi def. I upgraded my processor to a 3,4 gz P4, added 2 gigs of RAM and bought a new video card (ATI 2600XT) it has digital video out that connects via HDMI to the TV monitor. I purchased an ASUS BC-1205PT Blue ray player ($244.00 at newegg.com).

After some tweaking and software updates (CODECS and DVD/BR compatable player software) it works flawlessly! Great picture and sound!

[Hot Tabasco]

As usual, I treated MYSELF to a worthy Christmas present. I purchased a 60" Plasma Pioneer KURO PDP-6010FD. All the reviews I read on it were extremely good. FWIW, I ordered it from Amazon.com at a very, very low cost as compared to local Best Buys considering I've never had any problems with any products I've purchased from them, the last major order being a Bosch 10" table saw with stand.

As for the wall mount, I went with a SANUS SYSTEM Vision mount Flat Panel TV Wall Mount. The mount will arrive on January 2nd and the TV should arrive around January 7.

What's attractive about this TV is the fact that it is CableCard ready and has 4 HDMI inputs.

If anyone reading this post has any info on HDMI cables, I have purchased several from a website called FIREFOLD.COM at a cost of about $5.95 for a 3 foot cable and $6.95 for a 6 foot cable. All the prices in my area which include BestBuy, Circuit City and ABC Warehouse are selling HDMI's no lower than about $49.00 for 6 footers.

As for the cables I purchased, I have absolutely no problem with them! Please correct me if I'm wrong but I see the HDMI cables as nothing more than targets for price gouging based on the fact that they are needed for true HD reception from either TV signals or DVD players.........

[Hot Tabasco]

(VIZIO has high returns - I read earlied today

I purchased a 20" (I think because it was for my kitchen counter top) from Circuit City for the same price as COSTCO so costco didn't have an exclusive on the price.

I was not satisfied with the quality of the picture so I returned it two days later. I then purchased a 19" Philips from Wal Mart for about the same price and an thoroughly satisfied with the picture. FWIW, the 19" replaced my 17" Philips which I then installed in the garage........

[JamesP81]

I wish folks would quit relying on CR for high tech gear!

I agree. In fact, I don't even know that I trust CR's reviews of cars all that much.

[fr_freak]

I bought my brother a `1080p 46” LCD (Samsung LN4661) for Christmas (I actually bought it 2 days after Christmas) for $1499 (normal price $2199). I also bought the HD-DVD player. The TV is awesome, but I’m a little disappointed in the HD-DVD player. It’s a sharp picture, but you can see some graininess in some areas. The movie “300” was really grainy. I don’t know if that’s the way the movie was shot or what (this was an HD-DVD disk, by the way). By contrast, a non-HD DVD of Terminator 3 looked awesome played on the HD player.

I haven’t had the chance to see what HD broadcast looks like on his TV yet. I’ll be doing that tonight.