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I'm looking at updating my "antique" media equipment in my living room at home. Everything is functioning without problems, but its not 21st century HD equipment. I've got a 46" Magnovox projection TV I bought back in '96, and my old Pioneer 3.1 Dolby Logic Surround sound system from around '93, and a late 90s DVD player made by Ampex. All housed in a wooden case with a million tangled dusty wires hidden in the back. I had blown out one of the tower speakers a couple of years ago while the Mrs. was away while jamming to some old Sabbath.
I've been shopping around for a while as I'm not an impulse buyer and researching what would be best for my budget. I'm thinking around a 40" to 50" LCD 1080p, 120Hz, with high contrast ratio and several HDMI ports. Rather than going Blue Ray I'm thinking about purchasing an 1080p upconvert DVD player, and a new amplifier reciever and speakers. However it would be cheaper to buy the package deal with the 5.1 upconvert player with speakers, but I don't think I would be as happy with the quality.
Samsung looks like they make alot of what I'm looking for that fits in my budget. At Best Buy they had a 40" LCD 1080p 120Hz 50,000 to 1 contrast Ratio going for right at $1,300. Of course then you have to look at purchasing the HDMI cable which for top speed and quality was running $130. The package deal for a 1200 watt DVD upconvert home theater system was around $450. Then of course you have to invest in the stand which I saw a nice steel and smoked glass model for $209. I'm looking at around $2500 once all is said and done. Not a big chunk of change to plunk down at all, but its really not a necessity either.
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The only thing that I can really chime in with is Blu Ray is the "new wave" for movie watchers isn't it?? I thought they are discontinuing DVD's next year or something...so you might want to consider throwing in the blu ray
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The thing with the Blu Ray is I've only seen them as cheap as $399 at the moment. I'm sure the price is going to be cut in half again later this year. However each DVD seems to run $29 apiece. Do I really need to see something like... oh say "Uncle Buck" in Blu Ray HD? However, something like "Saving Private Ryan" might make me change my mind about it. I'll have to ponder this for a bit...
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Uncle Buck...fucking amazing movie! I have yet to see a blu ray being played so I couldn't tell you if it is worth that much or not..
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Now, I can be assured my husband really has not much info on this subject either so I wont even bother asking him...
Basically, when we decide to upgrade to the fancy stuff, here is how it will go down.
RING RING- call the company that installed all of our electronic wiring in the house when we built it (they also sell all the monitors, etc)...
THEY come out.
THEY sell us probably a bunch of crap we dont need - but its all fancy and its stuff we just GOTTA HAVE... lol
Hell, it was stressful to go out with our son today to buy him a HDTV for his birthday. We ended up getting the 32' one because the price difference wasnt much between the 26 and the 32'. But I am still certain if we knew more about the products, we could have spent less. Whatever... so be it. Cant take it with you.
I hope your upgrade works out. Just reading your questions stressed me out! lol
Posts: 1470 | Registered: Feb 2008
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I've been holding out til' a certain game "Resident Evil 5" comes out on PS3 before I upgrade my whole entertainment centre but the game release keeps getting postponed.
Here the average price of a blu-ray player is $700 (New Zealand Dollars) and the PS3 which also plays blu-ray is only about $100-$150 more.
T.V's? Technical stats are avancing all the time along with price drops of previous products rapidly. So I'm sorta glad that the game has postponed in a way. Want a 56' HDTV but realistically looking at a 46'. Cross that bridge when I get there. I'll keep an eye on this thread for good advice....
L.D please check back and tell us what you actually get and how it is
-------------------- "When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit" - Dr Emmit L. Brown (Back To The Future) Posts: 7894 | Registered: Jan 2007
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You're definitely thinking along the right lines with the LCD. I went with the DLP because it was both larger and cheaper and now I'm regretting it. The LCD will last you much longer and cause fewer headaches. I've only had my TV for 9 months and now I'm having to jump through hoops to get some warranty work done.
That said, upconvert is not even the same ballpark as Blu-ray. If you're a video buff then definitely shell out the extra $$$ for BR. Or just get an upconvert to hold you over until you can get BR. I mean we're talking apples and oranges difference when you have a good A/V system.
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A buddy of mine upgraded to a 52" LCD TV recently and he said the thing that is the biggest rip off is buying the HDMI cables from one of the electronics bunker stores. He went online to purchase his for under $10. Best Buy was selling the same types of cables for $79 to $129 made by "Monster." Apparently the markup that those stores puts on the accessories that you have to have (likened to buying drinks and popcorn at a movie theater) is where they can bring in the big profits.
My wife is reeling me in on this journey. We're looking at buying a laptop for our daughter for Xmas as we've been promising her that for a while. We'll see... I'll keep checking up on things...
-------------------- "When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit" - Dr Emmit L. Brown (Back To The Future) Posts: 7894 | Registered: Jan 2007
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Actually she is whipping my ass on it too. I've got vacation coming up next week though and I'm going to be home alone with nothing to do while she's at work... The temptation to be a baaaaad boy and spend money might be too great to fight.
quote:Originally posted by LeDaemon: Why I oughta....
Actually she is whipping my ass on it too. I've got vacation coming up next week though and I'm going to be home alone with nothing to do while she's at work... The temptation to be a baaaaad boy and spend money might be too great to fight.
Let me give you a womans voice and if you get weak- call on me again.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE should you go against the boss! You all as men NEVER win and you end up just paying for it more later... lol
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A site to get good deals on HDMI cables, etc. is http://www.monoprice.com Got mine from there. Big thick ass cable too. Oh ya LD, I like that you're leaning towards a Samsung LCD. Just got the top of the line set from them last year about this time. The LN-T4681F, 46" of LED backlighting heaven!
Got mine online but in store you would have had to go to a Best Buy with a Magnolia section just to get them, as the regular BB's didn't carry them. Still some around but Samsung is probably phasing most of them out for the newer models, even though I don't think the newer ones have the LED backlighting like mine does.
Here's my Sammy, nestled in front of our Tempur Pedic that we lay back and watch it on. lol Living room still has an old tube TV for now 'cause we hardly even go in there, and don't have much company over anyway.
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How's the speakers on the TV? My buddy said the one bad thing about the Samsung he bought was that the sound sucks and you pretty much have no choice other than run it through a stereo.
I'll get around to shooting my old school system later on to show you guys where I'll be going from.
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If you go against your wife, you realize when you come on here crying like a girl cause she beat your ass- I am going to have to tell you I told you so right? lol
Posts: 1470 | Registered: Feb 2008
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