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Author Topic: HDTV
Fetts_Vette  8492 posts
38680_strange
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HDTV 7/2/08 12:47pm
Current Poll Results:
60%
  I HAZ (12 votes)
30%
  DO WANT (6 votes)
10%
  DO NOT WANT (2 votes)
0%
  WAT IZ HDTV? (0 votes)
Total Votes: 20 (Days Left: -1407)
What do you think about HDTV?

I'm curious how many of us have one, how many of us don't want one, how many of us are planning to buy one in the forseeable future, and how many of us have no idea what this HDTV thing is people are talking about?

If you have one, do you think it was money well spent? Do you have enough content for it that you feel like you're getting what you wanted out of it?

If you want one, what sold you on the idea of upgrading your current set? What have you seen that made you want one?

If you don't want one, then why not? Is it price? Is it that you don't see enough benefit in it to justify the cost? Is there not enough HD content out there to make it worth having in your opinion? Is it that you just don't watch much TV?

If you have questions, ask here and maybe somebody can help answer them.

Also, how do you have it hooked up, and to what? Cable, satellite or just antenna (although I can't imagine the last one on an HDTV)? DVD or blu-ray/HD-DVD? Game system or PC? Expensive Monster cables or cheapies from monoprice.com? Home theater or just using the built-in speakers? That kind of stuff.

I really didn't make this thread for the HDTV owners to brag, I just want to see if what you guys have to say mirrors what I've heard when talking to my circle of RL friends and acquaintances lately.

 

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iBP_John 

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RE: HDTV 7/2/08 1:38pm
I don't have one yet, My roommate picked up an old 60" projection tv from 1999 that claimed to be HD but you need to pick up special converters to use the high def.

I would like a high def tv mostly for the HTPC that I'm trying to get up and running again.

 

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GeneralVulture  8574 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/2/08 6:07pm - Edited By: GeneralVulture  7/2/08 6:08pm (1 edits total)
Vote HAZ

Fetts_Vette posted:


If you have one, do you think it was money well spent?


Yes. Spent 2500 or thereabouts on a 46in Sharp Aquos and got interest free financing so I can pay the money that I didn't put down over three years.

I use it pretty much every second I'm at home.

Fetts_Vette posted:


Do you have enough content for it that you feel like you're getting what you wanted out of it?



I feel like I do with my PS3 and dozen plus PS3 games alone. GT5 Prologue with the G25 steering wheel controller on this TV is a more immersive experience than I feel I'd otherwise get. And all of my games look much better than they did on my old SD TV (for example, motorstorm's colors are particularly more rich).

Fetts_Vette posted:


Also, how do you have it hooked up, and to what? Cable, satellite or just antenna (although I can't imagine the last one on an HDTV)? DVD or blu-ray/HD-DVD? Game system or PC?



I have it hooked up to my PS3 which is my full time game player and occasional bluray player/DVD player/CD player.

I don't have cable or satellite, I just have an HD antenna, which is fine since I only watch sports and the news-- if I watch TV, which I usually think is a waste of time that could be better wasted on videogames.

Fetts_Vette posted:


Expensive Monster cables or cheapies from monoprice.com?


Medium expensive (About 60 bucks).

Fetts_Vette posted:


Home theater or just using the built-in speakers?


Both. My home theatre is old but it gets the job done.

Fetts_Vette posted:


I really didn't make this thread for the HDTV owners to brag


Whoops, too late.

 
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InvivnI  4436 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 3:50am
I've noticed that a lot of US shows don't have HDTV support, which is strange because generally the US is pretty advanced in these things. Every new show in Australia (and even most ads) are now natively shown in either 720 or 1080i and are widescreen when watching the digital networks.

Anyway we have a Samsung 720p 32" LCD TV, we don't really have the room for a bigger telly, so a 1080p 40" TV isn't really necessary, and 1080p on a 32" TV is overkill unless you watch TV with your face pressed against the screen. By the way, Samsung make great tellys from our experience.

 
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madmonk1971  2777 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 5:18am
I have a 22" wide screen with HD Component, HDMI, and DVI inputs monitor/tv, does that count? I don't have HD cable though, I only use it for my PC and console. I loves it.

 

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Fetts_Vette  8492 posts
38680_strange
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 6:46am
I used my Stafford loan financial aid refund check back in March to buy a 40" Samsung 1080p HDTV for $1299. Since then, I've checked the selection at Best Buy every once in a while, and it still looks like a pretty good deal, so I haven't felt any buyer's remorse over the cost yet.

That being said, I absolutely love my HDTV. I did a bunch of window-shopping around town before making my decision to compare picture quality. I agree with Invivni's assertion that Samsung makes nice TVs. Pretty much every store I was in, the picture on the Samsungs caught my eye above all else, aside from the really expensive, high-end TVs. I often found myself talking to the other shoppers and more often than not, it seemed like they were in agreement with me about the Samsungs. I did however find a lot of people who were just partial to Sony and "wanted a Sony", usually based on previous experience with one of their sets.

I hooked mine up to my PS3 with a $35 HDMI cable I bought at Walmart just because I was too impatient to wait for one ordered off monoprice.com to show up. I already had a 5.1 Dolby digital/DTS receiver and package set of Sony speakers that I bought about six years ago, so I ran an optical audio cable from the PS3 to that, but just use the TV's speakers when watching TV.

PS3 games like GT5P, Uncharted and MGS4, and blu-rays like the Planet Earth series look absolutely stunning on it. The built-in digital tuner also picks up the HD versions of all the local channels too, which is really nice. I've always watched a lot of PBS, especially any science and nature programs like NOVA, and now I can watch them in 1080i with no additional cost.

I've only bought a few blu-ray movies, but I've rented quite a few from Netflix, and generally speaking, the visual quality is superb.

Only downside I've found from owning an HDTV: you become spoiled, and all your old SD content really starts to look like crap once you've watched stuff in HD.

 

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Chainsaws_n_Toasters  11072 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 6:53am
Fetts_Vette posted:

That being said, I absolutely love my HDTV. I did a bunch of window-shopping around town before making my decision to compare picture quality. I agree with Invivni's assertion that Samsung makes nice TVs. Pretty much every store I was in, the picture on the Samsungs caught my eye above all else, aside from the really expensive, high-end TVs.


That's exactly my story. I got the new Samsung 52 inch from 6th Avenue Electronics for $2300, which was their price to be Best Buy's $2500 which was on sale that weekend from it's normal $3000. Very sweat deal, and the TV seems beater than those $8000 ones in the special theater rooms.

 
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Fetts_Vette  8492 posts
38680_strange
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 7:02am
Choasters posted:

Very sweat deal, and the TV seems beater than those $8000 ones in the special theater rooms.


I stayed out of that room (Magnolia) on purpose at Best Buy, but Circuit City has the really high-end stuff out alongside the regular stuff around here. The only one of those that made me jealous was about a $5000 Sony that was like 52" or something.

Samsung's regular line stacks up well against many of the more expensive lines from Sony (and even Samsung lol) IMHO.

I briefly considered getting a 47" 1080p Toshiba for around the same price, but nobody around here had any 1080p Toshibas on display. All any of them had were 720ps that you could check out. It bothered me that although they were inexpensive and I absolutely loved my 27" SD Toshiba that I was replacing, nobody had their 1080p stuff on display. In the end, that's what ruled Toshiba out for me. I couldn't justify plunking down that much cash on a TV I'd never seen the picture on. On paper at least, feature and price-wise, they seemed pretty on par with the Samsungs though.

 

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Lambchops  11705 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 11:09am
We have one at home but because we lack satellite TV, a blu-ray player, a next gen console or even freesat (which allows you the BBC and ITV HD channels for a one off payment) we never see any of it. It is a nice telly though!

In the flat I was staying at uni we had an HD TV but the only HD content we had was games. So yeah, some of the PS3 games looked very pretty although we had nothing to really compare them against. Though my flatmate said he definitely wouldn't want to go back to the standard TV for gaming.

If I was to buy a TV for myself I'd almost certain;y buy an HD ready one; they aren't really that expensive now and it seems that the majority of TVs on sale are HD ready these days.

 

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Fetts_Vette  8492 posts
38680_strange
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 12:32pm
Had to look up what "HD ready" meant. Wikipedia to the rescue again.

Seems like it's not quite as good as having an actual HDTV, but apparently the next-best thing. Are they much less expensive than a true HDTV over there?

 

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spyte1  3706 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 12:56pm
My Dad, after 2 years of looking, went out and bought a 60" in Sony Wega. I like it so far, especially the TV Guide built in function. The upscaling DVD player looks pretty damn good, but the Wii looks a bit stretched at times (except with Metroid Prime 3, that game looks ungodly on the huge screen).

 

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Thunderpants17251077  7164 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 2:48pm
I HAZ

 

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Fetts_Vette  8492 posts
38680_strange
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 5:33pm
spyte1 posted:

...a 60" in Sony Wega.


Holy crap that thing is huge. I can only imagine what playing games on that is like.

 

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GenericShadowGS  10257 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 6:11pm
Do not want

1)Don't even have room
2)Wayy to expensive
3)Hell, this house does not have a single hooked up TV, instead it has 6 computers hooked up.

 
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Adremmalech  1762 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 6:19pm
My TV (well it's my roommate's actually...) is... *measuring...* 32''.

Oh, here it is on Amazon!

Yeah, it's HD. Halo 3 looks beautiful on it and GTAIV is gorgeous.
Movies are also cool.

My folks back home seem like they're not going to get the magic HD box for their television. ...even though it's free!
It can't be that scary for them. It's just like the switch to color broadcasting back in the late 50s. Get with the times, Ma!

 

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Chainsaws_n_Toasters  11072 posts
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RE: HDTV 7/3/08 9:52pm
Epifols posted:
Do not want

1)Don't even have room
2)Wayy to expensive
3)Hell, this house does not have a single hooked up TV, instead it has 6 computers hooked up.


1) Nonsense, they come in all shapes and sizes

2) Debatable, you could get some real cheap ones, but may not have much better picture quality than a standard TV

3) Garbage. My HDTV has a PC, 360, PS3, and Wii currently hooked up to it. God said let there be video games, and my Samsung was born.

P.S. this is my first post from the HDTV. Crazy reading this half way across a room rather right in front of my at a desk.

 
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