Plasma TV boosts Gateway picture - (42 " HDTV flat-panel display for $3,000)

The San Diego Union Tribune ^ | December 28, 2002 | Bruce V. Bigelow

[bonesmccoy]

interesting thread... the guys right.

Lucas is right also.

Digital is the way to go.

The guys who control the analog production houses are the liberal democrats who keep screwing up our nation and keep forcing us to endure more Alec Baldwin.

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[dennisw]

Yeah, I had a 22" Apple Cinema Display (LCD panel) that developed a bad column of pixels.

Please humor me. When did this problem develop? One day, one week, one month after you fired it up? That's the most bad pixels I've ever heard of.

[bonesmccoy]

I agree with you. Our LCD projector matches the production quality to our eyes of the local movie houses.

We are unlikely to purchase any more movie tickets. We will buy the DVD or download the movie and then watch on our PC.

I'll continue to throw cash at Lucasfilm because they innovate so fast that they are creating new stuff every quarter.

On the other hand, the people who think they can make money by perpetually licensing Alec Baldwin films are toast. Either the Bald-one does something new and creative or he's out.

The days of H-wood execs sitting on reruns are over.

[bonesmccoy]

When I first saw the HP Media Center machine at Best Buy, I instantly thought of your team and that guy fighting the good fight with his one weapon... a Canon GL-1.

Those that attempted to handcuff our people by monopolizing every media stream are going to watch their little empires crumble.

We need to figure out how to monetize the exchange of the high quality reports.

ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN monetize their propaganda machines by selling advertising.

[bonesmccoy]

hey that's a cool report. Does the Hauppage HDTV tuner card permit digital cable?

[eddie willers]

I caught the hi-fi bug back when The Beatles went on Ed Sullivan and today sell / install / calibrate Home Theater Systems.

Rest assured you bought the best (mass marketed) Rear Projection set available.
(and at a very good price, I might add)

The Pioneer 50" Elite Plasma is also a top notch performer, but it's $10,000... alas.

The $5000 (now $3000, thanks to Gateway) sets just do not perform anywhere near as well.

$200 for 5.1!?....LOL!
Beats the TV speakers, perhaps, but that's it.

If you look hard enough, you might find a $200 speaker that's ok. Keep in mind, that's ONE speaker.

A decent 5.1 system (5 speakers, sub woofer, and Dolbly Digital Receiver is a grand...minimum.

[FreedomPoster]

>>We are unlikely to purchase any more movie tickets.

You mean you don't like spending $8 / ticket, $8 more for a coke and some popcorn, so you can sit where the floor is sticky and you can listen to people's cell phones go off? And *then* listen to them carry on a conversation in the theater, while the movie is running?

What's wrong with you? ;-)

[bonesmccoy]

Jim Rob is already permitting posting of video links.

If we had static IP addresses on broadband at home, then we could set up our own media services in each home. This would nullify the ability of Hollywood and New York to control our multimedia habits.

[A Navy Vet]

Bang & Olufson? Any respectable home theater doesn't use them or Bose or Yamaha or Sears or JC Pennys drivers. Pick up a copy of Home Theatre magazine or check them out on-line to see what constitutes a REAL home theatre.

Mine is relatively modest: Pioneer Elite 55" rear projection; Adcom preamp, Marantz processor, various medium-range sources, Proceed 3 channel & Adcom 2 channel amps, Definite Technology bi-polar main fronts with 300 watt powered 15" sub in each, Mirage rear and center channel drivers. All in a 15x20 room. Looking at a Marantz DLP based front projector (scaler included) that's comparable to a Runco CRT system for a third price.

[bonesmccoy]

Buddy... use your head (but then again... you make money selling high price sound)...
I plugged old speakers into the Yamaha surround system decoder and got a great result.

$200 for 5.1 (assuming pre-existing speakers which are just being recycled/reused/reapplied).

[bonesmccoy]

Just think.
$8.00 per ticket (two tickets)
$8.00 for drinks/popcorn/candy
Total $24.00
one time viewing


$14.00 for DVD

You decide :)

Short the theatre stocks.

[bonesmccoy]

As I said...HOW MUCH DID YOU SPEND?

I spent $4,000 bucks if you include the laptop PC and the portable LCD.

If you blindfolded a standard person and walked them into your system vs. mine, there would be little difference in sound quality.

[A Navy Vet]

"Many have problems with rainbows on DLP's."

The new generation chips don't have that problem from what I've seen, plus they're brighter than LCD.

[PoorMuttly]

Plasma T.V.
Sounds painful.

[savedbygrace]

It happened one day when the ACD was about 5 months old. Losing a column is not that rare, relative to all the problems that happen to an LCD panel. But problems with LCDs in general don't happen very often. (Unless yours has a problem, then it's 100%.)

[Gracey]

Picture image at night time is 14 diagonal projected on a big flat white wall.

Meant to ask you if this is 14 feet? Oh my, that's quite a creative way to watch home theatre. DVD and TV? How do you feed the TV picutre?

[dennisw]

Thanks. Now that I think about it a column failure is logical. Just a short at the top or bottom. Still, previously I've only heard of pixel failures. With some companies you need 5 or 8 bad pixels before they'll replace the monitor or laptop display.

[eddie willers]

Buddy... use your head

I used my eyes. You wrote nothing about cobbling a system together.

Do yourself a favor though, and start saving to replace them. Part of the magic of 5.1 is when it becomes "seamless" ...which can only happen when the speakers are timbre matched (or voiced) to sound the same.
ie. sonically the same. That way the pitch doesn't change as the sound moves from speaker to speaker.

I had some big $800/per Polks on the side with a "good" Atlantic Technology $300 center speaker. When I replaced the Atlantic Tech with the "proper" Polk center, the improvement was astounding. Same tweeter, don't you know.

For anyone looking to build on a budget, I suggest getting a good Yamaha (or my favorite) Denon receiver for around $400. Get 3 MATCHING front speakers (LCR...meaning Left / Center / Right) and the BEST subwoofer you can afford ($300 or better). Use your old stereo speakers for your surrounds (or rears) until you can match the front.

One all-in-one set I really like is the Mirage AVS small speaker system (4 identical speakers with matching center) which is usually matched with a Mirage sub and Denon/Yamaha receiver and sold as a package for $999.
Surprisingly good!

Stay away from Bose....not only outrageously overpriced, but poor sounding as well. The above system beats the $3000 Bose like a poor redheaded lefthanded step-child.

[Gracey]

Howdy