Just got my first flat panel TV !!

[perfectdark]

So I am I guess a "tech'ie" sort of guy. I like to stay current on all the new gadgets and things that come out. Some of which is too expensive and all I can do is look read and drool. The one place that has been lacking is my televisons in my house. I give all my friends and family members advise on what new tv's are out and the pro's and con's of each. But still I watch all my TV on a 32" Zenith thats about 10 years old and weighs in at about 900 lbs.
I have been holding out because I said if I am going to buy another tv its going to be some sort of flat panel type, weather its plasma or LCD. I found a deal I couldnt refuse, 42" LCD Toshiba, with true 1080p.

List on it was almost $1800. I paid a little over $1000. 3 year warranty and HDMI Cable total for everything was $ 1339.00 I was psyched... This weekend the game is gonna look SWEET.
Sorry had to share... my first flat panel TV

 

[sigmachris]

Good deal and congrats on the buy...not to state the obvious but you do have an HD cable box correct? It sounds like you know what you are talking about...
Funny story, my father in law gets an HDTV last summer and is bragging to his wife about how good the Padres will look in HDTV. This goes on for about a month until a friend of ours goes over for dinner. First thing out of his mouth is I thought you bought an HDTV? Turns out Pops didn't realize you needed an HD cable box too.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by SigmaChris
Good deal and congrats on the buy...not to state the obvious but you do have an HD cable box correct? It sounds like you know what you are talking about...
Funny story, my father in law gets an HDTV last summer and is bragging to his wife about how good the Padres will look in HDTV. This goes on for about a month until a friend of ours goes over for dinner. First thing out of his mouth is I thought you bought an HDTV? Turns out Pops didn't realize you needed an HD cable box too.
LOL, yes I do, but as obvious as it sounds it really isnt people dont seem to realize that. You have an HD ready TV so they think ok I am all set. Back when HD first came out there were HD compatable tv's where an extra converter was needed along with a box. Then the HD ready TV's came out and all you needed was the right box. It gets confusing to someone not up on the trends and with technology changing all the time and frequently before hardware can catch up or at least be considered the norm.
I had a hard time explaining to my father that not all HD tv is going to look the same all the time. The other factors not often known is the media that the tv is playing. If your on an HD Channel and the program your watching wasnt recorded by HD equipment its not going to look all that good. But people think hey its an HD Channel how come it doesnt look as good as ESPN HD... its hard to explain it to them. Or they connect their DVD player to the TV which only has Component video out so the quality is compromised there too. But the blame goes on the TV when its a combination of things and not the tv at all. I figured I bought a TV that is capable of a resolution not yet obtainable except on Blue Ray. Nothing broadcasts in 1080p yet, but it will so I was excited to have somthing that wont get outdated to soon.

 

[larrynews]

after you watch a game in hd, you never need to go to another game in person...except for the 10 dollar beers and the 5 dollar hot dogs..congrats and enjoy, i'm sure you will

 

[indyws6]

Welcome - the assimilation is underway

I have a 55" Sony SXRD Rear-Projection LCD and two Sony 26" LCD (flat panel) TV's (bedroom units). My @#@# cable company only offers 8 HD channels on their HD "package", 3 of which I would NEVER watch, so I signed up for the AT&T U-Verse deal and it will be installed in 10 days

. That will give me 30 HD channels, 200 more channels than I get today, a 120 hr DVR and 3 simultaneous HD feeds (this will increase to 6 HD feeds by mid-summer). They deliver the service over fiber to the neighborhood and then digitally across copper pairs to each home. Inside the home, the service is delivered using an IP network and in the near-future I will be able to stream the output of the DVR to any connected TV. Best of all, I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO SEE THE I.U. BASKETBALL GAMES (@#$@# Big Ten Network...)

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by indyws6
Welcome - the assimilation is underway

I have a 55" Sony SXRD Rear-Projection LCD and two Sony 26" LCD (flat panel) TV's (bedroom units). My @#@# cable company only offers 8 HD channels on their HD "package", 3 of which I would NEVER watch, so I signed up for the AT&T U-Verse deal and it will be installed in 10 days

. That will give me 30 HD channels, 200 more channels than I get today, a 120 hr DVR and 3 simultaneous HD feeds (this will increase to 6 HD feeds by mid-summer). They deliver the service over fiber to the neighborhood and then digitally across copper pairs to each home. Inside the home, the service is delivered using an IP network and in the near-future I will be able to stream the output of the DVR to any connected TV. Best of all, I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO SEE THE I.U. BASKETBALL GAMES (@#$@# Big Ten Network...)

Yep I have that now... our service is offered by Verizon called FiOs. Its fiber optic and they run it to your house then its copper from there. IMO there is a big difference between that and std copper cable run. I have 1 DVR box and 2 satellite boxes, when I record anything on the DVR I can access it from any other box in my house. I can even access my HD on my computer if I want to view digital photos.

 

[sigmachris]

Thanks for mentioning U-verse I will look further into it, but right off the bat NFL NEtwork HD which I don't get even in digital (see ya Time Warner) and better yet GOLF TV in HD.

 

[ewetmill]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Nothing broadcasts in 1080p yet, but it will so I was excited to have somthing that wont get outdated to soon.
There probably won't be very many broadcasts in 1080p because the frame rate gets lower. 1080i is usually based on 60fps where 1080p is only 30fps. So it is a trade off that is probably not even noticable by the human eye.

 

[maddog0118]

sanyo 50 inch plasma 720 p
for my man room..(i have 3 daughters)
i think the max high def they put out now is 430 or something right?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by ewetmill
There probably won't be very many broadcasts in 1080p because the frame rate gets lower. 1080i is usually based on 60fps where 1080p is only 30fps. So it is a trade off that is probably not even noticable by the human eye.

Blu Ray does, IMO it is definatly noticable... Also a 1080p tv filters a clearer brodcast of 1080i from what I have read there's less noise.

 

[sigmachris]

Just remember with all of these great TVs to get a halfway decent sound system. It would kind of like setting up a 200 gallon reef with only PCs as your lighting.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by SigmaChris
Just remember with all of these great TVs to get a halfway decent sound system. It would kind of like setting up a 200 gallon reef with only PCs as your lighting.

Yea I had the sound system before the TV.. but your right. It would be like a resees without the peanut butter. LOL

 

[sigmachris]

Oreos without the milk

 

[groupergenius]

I have had Direct TV for some time now and I just had them come out last week and install the HD satellite and 1 reciever. I hooked it to my Samsung 61" 1080p DLP and was blown away. A huge difference, especially NFL games.

 

[nano reefer]

Sweet deal!
should have waited maybe a little longer tho. At the consumer technology expo they came out with this new kind of plasma tv that would cost only 200 for a 42 inch.
I have a 42 inch plasma from about 6 mos ago, and i love mine!

 

[nano reefer]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Yep I have that now... our service is offered by Verizon called FiOs. Its fiber optic and they run it to your house then its copper from there.
I hate to say it, but Verizon is pushin everyone for "fiber!" they act like it is brand new, where as i have had IO for years which is fiber optic.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Nano Reefer
I hate to say it, but Verizon is pushin everyone for "fiber!" they act like it is brand new, where as i have had IO for years which is fiber optic.
Well I know fiber optics isnt new technology but it wasnt offered to us as home owners till reciently.

 

[tangman99]

FIOS is still pretty limited compared to cable but has been around for a while. Congrats on the new tv. I have a 60" SXRD and it is incredible. Currently using Comcast but considering going back to DirecTV.

 

[triggerphish]

Congrats on your recent purchase!

HD is a beautiful thing. It is nearly impossible to watch anything else after youve become hooked.
I have a 42" panasonic plasma with dish network, and use Bose 3-2-1 system for my soun. I love it. You got a good deal. I kind of have an unfair advantage. I work for a arguabley the nations number one electronics retailer and score good discounts on my electronics especially cables. I wont break out specific numbers but panasonic was offering $500 off on top of my employee discount. After selling my old rear projection I pretty much broke even. loving every minute of it!

 

[chano]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
I have been holding out because I said if I am going to buy another tv its going to be some sort of flat panel type, weather its plasma or LCD. I found a deal I couldnt refuse, 42" LCD Toshiba, with true 1080p.

List on it was almost $1800. I paid a little over $1000. 3 year warranty and HDMI Cable total for everything was $ 1339.00 I was psyched... This weekend the game is gonna look SWEET.
Sorry had to share... my first flat panel TV

Thats a good deal on a very nice piece of equipment and your much better off with LCD than plasma IMO.
As far as fiber optic goes its really all a big joke for now. I used to work in fiber optics and yeah the signals will get to your house much faster but your house is wired with copper so you will still only go as fast as copper. Unless you rewire your house with fiber you are not going to reap the benifits. I don't know if any of you know how much it would cost at this stage to rewire your house with fiber but take my word for it its not cheap by any means. The cable we used to install was $600 a foot (granted this was much larger cable than you would use in your home and this was 10 years ago)