Flat panel HDTV is now a "necessity"

[Bikerdude]

a 32 inch tv ran $1200, so I don't think a 50 inch plasma for $1400 today is expensive at all. The picture is so gorgeous, I wondered why I waited so long (yes, it was the price). I don't want to wait another 20 years before replacing it either.

I don't really have a problem with the cost of an HDTV. After all its a one time purchase that should last 10 yrs. or so. What I object to is the monthly HDTV cable bill of $85 or $1020 per yr.

Cable is the only utility that is not billed by use. So even if I only watch for 2 hours a day I pay the same as someone who watches for 15 hours per day.

I just don't see the justification (for me) to pay that amount.

Plus Al has a point, I would have to replace my TV table.

 

[FinanceDude]

I don't really have a problem with the cost of an HDTV. After all its a one time purchase that should last 10 yrs. or so. What I object to is the monthly HDTV cable bill of $85 or $1020 per yr.

If you're in a major metro area, you can get a bunch of HD channels for free by buying an antenna.

Of course, I don't get the History Channel or A&E, but $85 a month buys a LOT of DVD's...........

 

[packrat44]

Finally broke down and bought a large, flat screen LCD.

Our 27", 1978 Sony has been working poorly for many years. Bought a Sharp LC46D64U (new version as of Aug 2007) at the BX on Sunday. It had a MRSP of $2,799, BX advertised it on a one-day special for $1,399, but they price-matched Circuit City's Black Friday special of $1,299. A person opening a Star (credit account) would save another $130. This along with 2-$20 discount cards given at the door made for a reasonable price tv.

DW now wants me to go for pay-tv. Being FIREd is starting to get expensive.

 

[Andre1969]

Well what in the world would they be doing with a mirror on the ceiling? You don't comb your hair in bed. You don't brush your teeth in bed. You sure as hell can't watch yourself sleep. What in the world else is there?

Well what the...?
What the?
Well GOOD LORD!! That's bad enough when you're going through it, who wants to watch it on the instant replay?!

-Thelma Harper, "Mama's Family", c1984.

 

[FinanceDude]

Well what in the world would they be doing with a mirror on the ceiling? You don't comb your hair in bed. You don't brush your teeth in bed. You sure as hell can't watch yourself sleep. What in the world else is there?

Well what the...?
What the?
Well GOOD LORD!! That's bad enough when you're going through it, who wants to watch it on the instant replay?!

I dated a girl once who had mirrors on her ceiling....I broke up with her soon after that..........

 

[steve88]

went to a motel once with a girl and the ceiling had mirrors.

no comment

 

[MikeD]

Jennifer on WKRP had mirrors on her bedroom ceiling. They weren't shown, but implied by having the salesman look up and adjust his hair.

Mike D.

 

[TromboneAl]

went to a motel once with a girl and the ceiling had mirrors.

Better hope they weren't two-way mirrors.

I think I'd worry that the mirror was going to fall down on me.

 

[haha]

I think I'd worry that the mirror was going to fall down on me.

Al, it just feels like the earth moves.

Ha

 

[laurence]

Al, it just feels like the earth moves.

Ha

I told my cable company I only wanted basic cable - 13 channels - but in HD. They hemmed and hawed, but finally figured out how to do it. I pay $7 bucks a month more than the standard $11-15 for basic, and they couldn't find a way to turn off the digital channels, so I get Discovery, Nat Geo, and about a dozen others, pluse Encore movie channels, the local baseball games in HD, ESPN news (but not ESPN), G4, Sprout for the kids, about 40 channels in all, plus all the digital music stations for commercial free music. I figure at some point they'll figure out how to take that back all the extra goodies, but for now I guess they figure it's better to say "yes" to us than lose us. Right now we have our cable t.v., high speed internet, and phone as one bill for about $100, which seems pretty reasonable. To those of you looking at an HDTV, wanting to actually see 1080i/720p/1080p but not wanting to pay $100 just for cable t.v., it might be worth a try.

 

[Zipper]

We have a Sony Bravia KDL 46V3000 and are very happy.

We watched Dexter our favourite show last night.

You analog creatures don't know what you'r missing.

Crystal clear pristine pictures of Dex's individual stubble hair, Lila's nipples, and every leaf on a tree.

People's eyes and irises are just like looking at them in real life.

It's as if you are looking at stuff in real time.

 

[haha]

I just bought one. I got tired of having to get semi-smashed to hold my place at the bar to watch football, and having to drink Bloody Marys on Sunday morning to see an east coast game.

What I really wanted was a GF with a good TV, but I never met any. I'd have been happy to make her a nice brunch, even carry over the ingredients.

Ha

 

[audreyh1]

I just bought one. I got tired of having to get semi-smashed to hold my place at the bar to watch football, and having to drink Bloody Marys on Sunday morning to see an east coast game.

What I really wanted was a GF with a good TV, but I never met any. I'd have been happy to make her a nice brunch, even carry over the ingredients.

Ha

Hey, maybe a nice girl has been waiting for YOU to get a good TV!

Good luck!

Audrey

 

[FinanceDude]

I just bought one. I got tired of having to get semi-smashed to hold my place at the bar to watch football, and having to drink Bloody Marys on Sunday morning to see an east coast game.

What I really wanted was a GF with a good TV, but I never met any. I'd have been happy to make her a nice brunch, even carry over the ingredients.
Ha

 

[starter82]

I don't have an HDTV but have extended experience with them. I housesat for a friend for a friend a month or so ago. HDTV is good for certain programs, but I can't stand it for news broadcasts.

 

[Geoffrey]

Prices are coming down on flat screens. We just bought a 42" plasma screen made by a Korea firm at the PX. It was last year's model, but was on sale at $699. I applied for an in-house credit card that gave me 10 percent off on all purchases made the first day. This brought the set down to $630. So far we have been quite happy with it considering the price, but I'm not sure I'd feel the same if we had bought a more expensive set.

 

[JonnyM]

Finally sprung for out first Modern TV's, certainly first ones since the Millenium and the older of the two was more than 20 years old. Went with Aquos (Sharp) in 26" and 32". I've had 'em about a month now and only gotten around to hooking up the replacement for the smaller one that goes inside a cabinet (hence size limit of 26") in the Family room. So far I've mostly used it as a huge PC monitor for my Strategy WWII Military games. The bigger one for the bedroom involves at least 2 hours of work moving and wiring up stuff, just can't find the time ROFLMAO

 

[RunningBum]

So for people with multiple HDTV capable TVs, are you getting a receiver for each, or just watching in non-HDTV (SDTV?) mode? Is there much of a difference between those TVs in SDTV mode vs. CRTs? The biggest one to me would be to have a 16x9 screen to view a 4x3 picture.

 

[ERD50]

So for people with multiple HDTV capable TVs, are you getting a receiver for each, or just watching in non-HDTV (SDTV?) mode? Is there much of a difference between those TVs in SDTV mode vs. CRTs? The biggest one to me would be to have a 16x9 screen to view a 4x3 picture.

Why would you want a 16x9 screen to view a 4x3 picture? If you do that, you either get the black bands on the side (so no real benefit - same picture size) or you do the str-e-e-e-e-e-t-ch thing, which I think is just plain weird. Who is fooled by those squatty looking people?

I got the 'assignment' of picking out a new TV that several of us are going in on for the in-laws. The 32" Vizeo at Costco got good reviews. I convinced my wife we need to 'test' it before we give it to them. Wow. I'm not into video stuff much, but I hooked this up to our antenna (we get all the Chicago station, a couple a bit marginal, most very clear) and we lock on every digital station fine. Extra sub-channels, and when they have good content, it is impressive. But no stretch-o-vision for me.

There are some details about getting HD locally over cable/sat (I currently have neither), and I understand that the quality may not be as good as over-the-air.

-ERD50

 

[RunningBum]

I meant 16x9 on a 4x3 is a negative difference. A reason not to replace my bedroom TV with a new TV unless I add a receiver there as well (which I probably wouldn't). I don't pick local stations very well so I don't think HDTV over the air is much of a possibility.

 

[dex]

I meant 16x9 on a 4x3 is a negative difference. A reason not to replace my bedroom TV with a new TV unless I add a receiver there as well (which I probably wouldn't). I don't pick local stations very well so I don't think HDTV over the air is much of a possibility.

With over the air HDTV if you get a signal you get a good picture - it is either all or none. It isn't like analog where you can get a gradient of picture quality.

 

[RunningBum]

I checked one of those sites that predict whether and what signals you'll get over the air from your address, and it told me none.

 

[free4now]

It seems like a good time to buy. I just got a 1080p LCD Samsung with the flat glassy screen, and it is absolutely gorgeous. I'm a bit of a snob in these matters, having owned two HD video projectors over the years, and I can say flat out that this set beats those and maybe any projection system. The projection systems listed for over $20k new, but this new Sammie cost me less than $2k.

Samsung just recently announced that they are going to essentially stop R&D on their flat panels. They had been making major investments to get ahead of everyone and now they realized that they have achieved excellence and don't need to innovate much more. So from here on out it's likely that picture quality on the best sets is not going to be improving nearly as quickly as it has in the past. Prices will continue to march downward slowly.

 

[getoutearly]

Books on Tape

"But, I'm not normal: I'd listen to a good "book on tape" through a $10 AM radio rather than hear the top 5 Brittany Spears tunes played repeatedly over crystal-clear digital satellite radio. If the marketplace offerings are any guide, nobody else is like this".

Agree Sam. Anyone else listen to books on tape? I've got about a 2-1/2 hour commute each day. I go through 1 to 2 a week typically. Love em.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

"But, I'm not normal: I'd listen to a good "book on tape" through a $10 AM radio rather than hear the top 5 Brittany Spears tunes played repeatedly over crystal-clear digital satellite radio. If the marketplace offerings are any guide, nobody else is like this".

Agree Sam. Anyone else listen to books on tape? I've got about a 2-1/2 hour commute each day. I go through 1 to 2 a week typically. Love em.

I have an hour commute each way (sometimes more depending on the traffic).

Books on CD are great, but my library has a somewhat out of date selection. It has very little of the modern popular fiction genre, apparently preferring to purchase some rather fringe books. The problem is that if people don't read the actual book, what makes the library think people are going to want to listen to it?

This is one of the reasons I have XM satellite radio, along with the fact that it only costs me $6.95 a month. Not a terrible price to pay for a decent number of different radio stations, many of which are commercial free. Unfortunately, most of the really popular XM stations (such as the news and financial stations) are loaded, and I mean LOADED with commercials. Strangely enough, those commercials look very much like my spam in-box, including commercials for erectile dysfunction drugs, get-rich-quick schemes, cheap mortgage refinancing, and spam/anti-virus software.