okay, need advice before I buy

[Rye_guy]

hey bros,

this is more for those who know more about home electronics, Tvs actaully, than I know.

I am lookin for a nice 50" flatscreen. the issue is, there are soo many differant kinds of tvs out there. my question is, what is the best buy for your money. I dont have HD tv or anything, no digital and not satalite... not yet anyway.

the options I have are:

CRT Projection TVs
DLP Projection TV's
LCD and Plasma Flat Panel TV's
LCD Projection TV's

now, I dont know the diff between CRT and DLP projection, or LCD projection for that matter.

any suggestions or help would be appreciated... Im not savy when it comes to these things, and I dont want to talk to the salesman about it, as we know they are just gonna talk me into something that costs the most.

thanks bros,
take care

[audis4]

I have a 42" plasma flat panel above my fireplace and love it.

[boarder034]

DLP. Digitial light projector. usses a dmd, digital micromiror device to move around a million mirrors 2000 times per second to produce an image.
LCD. Liquid Crystal Display. Heats up the liquid crystals and produces and image.
CRT-Cathode Raye Tube, heats up the electrons and forces it against the screent to make an image.
Plasma- Plasma display heats up the Plasma display allowing it to produce an image.
Overal, Look for a high contrast ratio, itll give you better levels of black. Then Look for 1080p, its the best image out there.You want 50 inches? plasma will be expensive, And they dont make lcd that big, DLP is a good choice, very good quality there. But if you want something good. Check out the sony SXRD, its a fantastic television, and very cheap for its quality, it has 1080p, a very high contrast ratio. For 50 inches u can find it for like 2300 IF THAT anymore, fantastic tv, oh and get hd, or your just waisting your cash now

[Rye_guy]

DLP. Digitial light projector. usses a dmd, digital micromiror device to move around a million mirrors 2000 times per second to produce an image.
LCD. Liquid Crystal Display. Heats up the liquid crystals and produces and image.
CRT-Cathode Raye Tube, heats up the electrons and forces it against the screent to make an image.
Plasma- Plasma display heats up the Plasma display allowing it to produce an image.
Overal, Look for a high contrast ratio, itll give you better levels of black. Then Look for 1080p, its the best image out there.You want 50 inches? plasma will be expensive, And they dont make lcd that big, DLP is a good choice, very good quality there. But if you want something good. Check out the sony SXRD, its a fantastic television, and very cheap for its quality, it has 1080p, a very high contrast ratio. For 50 inches u can find it for like 2300 IF THAT anymore, fantastic tv, oh and get hd, or your just waisting your cash now

shit bro, thats alot to absorb, but thanks! I have a better idea of what Im lookin for.

was just wonderin if DLP is good for basic cable though, I heard the picture can be kinda blurry. this true?
I do reckon you've given me probably the more educated and solid info Ive heard on this topic yet!

perhaps if your okay with it, I could PM you with what im lookin at?? Im basically your typical hick with little idea of what Im looking for.

but none the less mate, thanks for the help, I appreciate it!

[dan991]

Budget, goals, and details help.

If you aren't planning on getting a high def signal (i.e. HD Directv or cable) then your wasting money because the picture will look like shit.

[StoneGRMI]

Budget, goals, and details help.

If you aren't planning on getting a high def signal (i.e. HD Directv or cable) then your wasting money because the picture will look like shit.

That my be exactly what I was going to say verbatim.

[boarder034]

Feel free to PM whenever. And the post above mine is right. If ur not making the jump to HD, the newer televisions arnt worth it, they look like shit to be honest. I used to sell tvs and CC, and if i found out that they wernt getting HD, i would turn down the sale, because they would just come back to return it, cause the old one looked better, it wasnt worth havin the return on my recored. But if this helps u decide, in 2009 the goverment is gonna stop sending out HD signals, mine as well get it now, while its cheap, because im sure itll just be more expensive when that happens. Its only an extra 8 dollars a month usually. Plus a box whcih is about 5 to rent a month, so for an extra 13 dollars a month you can have hd

[boarder034]

ahahahaha, Gotta love hd titties man lol

[dan991]

I have a hell of a theatre system, but I just moved into a new house so it isn't hooked up yet.

Sony Qualia projector
Rotel preamp
Rotel amps
B&W CM series for entire 7.1 system
JL Audio Phanton Subwoofers

1080P porn on a 100 inch screen

[StoneGRMI]

I have a hell of a theatre system, but I just moved into a new house so it isn't hooked up yet.

Sony Qualia projector
Rotel preamp
Rotel amps
B&W CM series for entire 7.1 system
JL Audio Phanton Subwoofers

1080P porn on a 100 inch screen

Nice! I've been looking to find a decent projector on sale or open box just to have a "theater" area in my basement for mostly big sporting events. But, I just spent an arm and a leg a month ago on my new 50' pioneer plasma so it might have to wait a while.

[boarder034]

Yea pioneers are nice, im assuming you have the seperate box. Projectors are sick, they create some fantastic pictures...but at a cost that could scare Trump!

[StoneGRMI]

I do have the box cause I wanted to have the DVR also but if I didn't use the DVR all I would need is a cable card since pioneer (and a lot of other brands) have the HD receiver built in.

I saw a HD compatible Toshiba projector on black friday for $450. But I didn't want to go shopping at 3AM. I also have no idea how good of a product it would be but for what I would use it for it probably would have been perfect.

[boarder034]

Yea Cable Card is popular the only downfall is, it will not have On Demand, and it will not have any of the Tv Guide things on the bottom, and comeon, thats the real reason why we have the box, figure out whats on the other channels without switchin off the one your watchin!

[StoneGRMI]

Yea Cable Card is popular the only downfall is, it will not have On Demand, and it will not have any of the Tv Guide things on the bottom, and comeon, thats the real reason why we have the box, figure out whats on the other channels without switchin off the one your watchin!

That's one good thing about pioneer. Even with basic cable you can pull up a TV guide with their new TV's. Something to do with their contract with TV Guide or something. Before my DVR box was delivered I only had regular cable hooked into it for a couple days and I was impressed that the TV could still bring up the channels and shows that were playing.

[audis4]

My cousin has a crazy theater back home where I live....featured in the '97 edition of Forbes....$100,000 just in audio components; speakers etc.
I'll see if I can find it on the website.

[boarder034]

I actually never heard that before, very intriqued though. Thats a big step for pioneer. And thats pretty damn cool lol.

[Ufa]

edit

[audis4]

LCD over plasma? Why?

[boarder034]

NEVER choose an lcd over a plasma, anything past 40 inches on an lcd, looks like hell, they have to strech the pixels so muc hmore in an lcd, compaired to a plasma, they dont make plasmas below 40 inches, thats why lcd should just stick to smaller screens...but samsung makes a good tv though

[audis4]

I was going to say...we have an LCD at home and doesn't come close to comparing to our plasma.

[boarder034]

Its nice to find a tv with 1080p, because they dont even broadcast in it yet, so basically think of it this way...heres my sale pich for the evening, If u were to buy a non 1080p television, a couple years from now, ull walk into an electronics store and be like "Well my tv doesnt look like that :-("...buy a 1080p...and a couple years down the road when the CABLE catches up to YOUR tv...youll go "well hell my television looks like that, what do i need a new one for..." Its a muc hbtter buy in the long run too.

[Rye_guy]

so then... rather than the basic cable which i have now, how would digital rate on this new screen? the digital provider had HD channels n what not... but i wasnt sure if digital cable is even all that better than basic cable... Isnt digital cable just the same? perhaps this is a question for my provider...

but I was under the impression digital cable and satalite were the same quality, they just provide digital channels on top of regular channels... around here, we dont really have the option for nothing but HD tv. my parents have digital, but theres a crap load of HD channels with the package.

I dunno... this is all new to me, I never really cared before... I just got a promotion and beat layoffs and wanted to splurge a bit. lol

[boarder034]

Well honestly, digital does look almost hte same as basic, its just on a cable box, 0 to about 100 is basic, 100 to 200 is digital, 200 to 300 is HD, 300 to 400 is ur Hbo stars, max, shit liek that...so yes ur right...digital isnt going to look that much different from basic...but one advantage to the SXRD, itll up convert the signal to look better.

[Rye_guy]

hm the thing here is the only provider in this lil town to get HD is with the digital cable... sadly, i guess half the channels wont look as good I guess... I was lookin at the company web page and their channels are set up just like basic, however they have all these extra channels, and movie channels and sports channels that they say are all HD.

does this basically mean that its not worth buyin a big tv like this? or would it be wise to invest in satalite to get more HD channels?

[boarder034]

U located in the US? Whats the digital cable company. I would recomend going to satelite. But remember this, ur basic channels, alot of them, have HD channels, so like Fox is Channel 9, or HD its 234...so dont commit to satellite, take a look and see wat the cable provider will give you with HD. But to be perfectly honest, satelite is where its at. And no its not pointless to get a TV that big, tv's that big are the future, Just think of the home theatre youll have when they come out with HD dvds!

[Rye_guy]

indeed, thats what i though, home theater system. I was gonna go all out on it.

No Im from canada, west coast, on vancouver island... I was thinkin about digital cable, cheaper is all, but I guess whats the extra few bucks a month, not like I cant afford it, and If im goin all out on the tv, why not the satalite eh?
eh, totally canadian

was lookin at bell expressview, they claim to offer the most HD channels in canada. which is cool... where our local digital provider claims to have the most on our island, which really doenst say much... they are small and locally owned and operated.

our local provider doesnt offer HD alternatives to many other channels... mostly just ESPN and sports and movies... i think one discovery channel... so its not that appealing compared to satalite

when i actually get out of the house and dig out the car from all the snow, I think ill go downtown and check into satalite. cant be too much more, just depends on the package you get right?

[boarder034]

no it really isnt all that much more. But when u go out and buy ur tv, just have wherever you get it send me 50% of the commission, and we'll be even :-D

[Rye_guy]

you got it man! lol. you pretty much sold me the product! and the advice on the satalite n what not is very usefull.. i feel kinda bad ive been hogin up yer time on here.. woulda been easier if ya were on my msn or something haha

[boarder034]

its really no big deal, just a 18 year old dude with no life lol, just thank Circuit City for the education, they do it right there...if u even have those in canada...ya know what, forget the commision, send me a plane ticket to whereever you live, and ill set up ur shit for you, then hit the slopes for the rest of the week 8-)

[Rye_guy]

ya, we have circuit city, in the city. lol. where I live, I think we have a future shop in the town over... lol that sounds bad... we also a source by circuit city (radio shack) here too... im livin in a town of like, 40,000 maybe, max and thats prolly way over shootin it... but the town i grew up in was like 2,000 so its big to me. but round here, all the towns and cities ont he island are pretty much connected, just alot of farm land inbetween...

but you wanna see mountain resorts? theres two sweet ass ones right near here, then you goto whistler 1.5 hr ferry ride to the mainland, world renown for its resorts... silver star, or banff! banff is far away from here in the rockies, but its freakin sweet! lotsa hot ski bunnies too!

[donniebrasco]

the only thing with dlp rear projectors is the rainbow effect on fast movement. i tried one of them, had to change it straight away.
got a plasma instead.