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.

[Vinnie]

Sony Bravia XBR (40")

I saw that one at Costco, I think. Amazing picture, 1080p.

[sharpee]

The cable thing is really away to protect copyrights. The signal across the cable can be encrypted to prevent piracy. the standard is HDMI HDCP with the HDCP being some really nasty requirments for the devices that can connect using the standard. If you do go the home theater route with a receiver like an ONKYO or Sony between your cable box and the display for the surround sound there can be a problem. The cable box may not recognize the receivers (repeater function) and downgrade or corrupt the signal. Bottom line if your looking at a setup check the release level of the HDMI/HDCP software 1.1 was the first 1.2 is common and 1.3 seems to be coming out now. I also so something in the standard that requires the device software not to be upgradeable.

I still have not upgraded from our 20 year old set.

[Glenn]

Amazing picture

Yes, in my opinion. Circuit City has them all lined up on one wall. Must be 40 of them. It's the one my eyes enjoyed the most. I am sure other people see some other one as the one they like best.

My, how far we've come from the old black and white console I bought when I first married so many years ago.

[xcamel]

http://hdtvguru.com/
is a good source also

[Cable225]

Purchased the same one about 3 weeks before Christmas. Absolutely incredible picture that blew away the 34" WEGA HDTV I had been using. Needless to say the WEGA got moved into another room.

Cablevision brodcasts NFL and NCAA HD in 1080i - it's amazing.

Funny story - the delivery guy recommended I hang onto the box in case I decided to return it. So I did.....for two days.

[petercooper]

bttt

[Calvin Locke]

My brother bought a plasma about a month ago. He had a heck of a time trying to hook it up to digital cable, thanks to the misinformation he got from the cable company.

His wife complains about the distorted picture on the local channels, but my brother insists on having full screen so as not to "burn" the edges of the 4:3 aspect into the screen.

[varina davis]

We got the Panasonic plasma 42 and absolutely love it! Never saw a better picture. The only downside is a faint hum when the tv is off, apparently a cooling fan.

[TC Rider]

Another great resource is www.avsforum.com

I've had my 50" plasma just over a year now. The price on my set has dropped from around 2400 when I bought it to around 1800 now, but I have no regrets.

I had Time Warner's HD service for the first year and just changed this month to DirectTV. The HD content and quality is about the same, but the SD quality is much better on the dish.

[G Larry]

Forget CR for HDTV purchase.
For people who know what ther're talking about go to CNET.com.

[RetSignman]

For those who have bought a HDTV, the first thing to do is make adjustments to the picture as the factory setting are way too high, especially the contrast. I bought Avia which calibrates your set for the best video (check Amazon), It will be well worth the money and produce an amazing picture.

I also removed the protective screen but this is not recommended for those with children or pets that could touch the screen.

I bought my Hitachi 46W500 more than two years ago and the picture is better now than when I bought it because of tweaking, I've now reached a point where I can relax and enjoy it. Watching football in HD is my favorite pastime this time of the year, you not only see the football, you see the dimples on the football.

[Vinnie]

My, how far we've come from the old black and white console I bought when I first married so many years ago.

No kidding.

I moved about 10 yrs. ago and left the Zenith 19" I had bought circa 1963. It still worked and was top of the line back then. A major purchase.
Zenith proudly touted 'hand wired' back then. And of course, Made in America.

If the Sony you are looking at is the same one I saw it has 1900 x something or other lines of resolution.

[Timmy]

Back in early October, I bought a Sony 55" SXRD rear projection HDTV (1080). Coupled with HD Dish, it's incredible. I knew to get the Sony SXRD because I had watched the Superbowl on a friend's 50" SXRD.

I paid about $2800 for it at Best Buy, but saw it yesterday at Ultimate for $2156. Wow. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

[Las Vegas Dave]

True about CU for their reviews are usually dated. http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv/compare-reviews.php

LCDtv buying guide has rated the PQ on the JVC's about equal to CR, which helps in a purchasing decision.

[Timmy]

When we moved this fall, we changed from DirectTV to Dish. We're extremely disappointed in DISH compared to DirectTV, and will probably change back after a year.

[drdemars]

After 20 some years bought a new TV at Costco (Vizio 36)
Waiting to upgrade Dish Network to HDTV (Jan. 4th). Presently on aerial and very pleased so far. DVD and TV both fantastic. I am content and happy for the purchase.
Hook up was easy,

[Wright Wing]

Remember to calibrate, calibrate, calibrate. Otherwise even your better looking pictures still look like garbage compared to a properly calibrated set. The bese calibrators I know..Eliab, and David Abrams from Avical. www.avical.com . Highly highly recommended.

[xcamel]

I started with a REVOX 43" plasma - now in the graveyard - then a Sony PFM-42-B1 (which died), and now running a PFM-42-B2 (they replaced the B1 after the second repair).
It's 1st generation technology, but is still works wonderfully.
I chose the route of having the plasma being just a monitor, and using multiple inputs from 2 HDTV OTA receivers, and a satellite HD sidecar.
One OTA has a HD-PVR, one is just a receiver, but also takes care of the DVD input.
The sat is a 4DTV (c/x band) with a DSR-922 HD sidecar and works very nicely.
I know it's all "old tech", but it works.
..and it proves you **can** have HDTV "out in the boonies"

[Las Vegas Dave]

Do you have the HD programing from DIRECT TV?

[Tomato lover]

>And,IMO,CRT is *the* way to go...although they're being phased out.

We bought a Samsung 27" CRT Wide screen HDTV, for our living room, 4-5 months ago. Love it. No cable, just a good outdoor antenna and as high as we could get it. Off Air programming we receive is ABC & CBS + the PBS station which gets split into 3 channels. Then there is Fox but not High Def in our area - yet. ABC & CBS each broadcast an additional digital channel, which gives some extra things to choose from but not in high def.

For our computer room we have been using an old 15" Toshiba flat screen. We bought a Samsung 'Off Air' 'set-top box' for it and are amazed at the clarity of the picture. It isn't High Def but twice as clear and sharp. If I had known how well that would have worked out, we might have skipped the new TV and stayed with our 32" RCA and a 'set-top box' for the living room. The RCA has a great picture to start with add the new tuner and it would have been good enough - just not wide screen. . . we do love that.

Of course, we had to get a new DVD player. Went through 4 brands before we returned to the first one we bought, a Sony. Impossible to test them in the store and the floor help in most of the places (Best Buy and Circuit City) are full of misinformation.

We tried several LCD monitors for the office TV and went back to the Toshiba. Even though a 19" would fit, it was too big to watch comfortably. We sit side by side at our big desk with the TV between our two monitors. One thing about the LCD that turned me off was the way it fades out if not viewed head on. CRT rules!

Cheers to all and thanks for the interesting thread.

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