Comments on: Upgrading My Living Room Entertainment, Part 1: Television http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/ A premiere personal finance blog, established 2003. Within, Flexo discusses his own experiences with money, and he and other authors comment on a wide range of personal finance topics. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:42:00 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Food For Thought - Articles From My Blogroll About Saving, Investing, Spending, And Frugal Living http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118658 Food For Thought - Articles From My Blogroll About Saving, Investing, Spending, And Frugal Living Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:50:59 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118658 [...] Commentary is upgrading an entertainment system.  (IF I reach my goal of saving $48,000 this year, I’m going to reward myself and buy an [...] [...] Commentary is upgrading an entertainment system.  (IF I reach my goal of saving $48,000 this year, I’m going to reward myself and buy an [...]

]]> By: Personal Income Statement, August 2007 (Net Income: $5,868) on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118646 Personal Income Statement, August 2007 (Net Income: $5,868) on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog Mon, 03 Sep 2007 10:30:29 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118646 [...] vacation, a living room upgrade, and a new bedroom furniture set provided a negative force on my bank accounts, while they were [...] [...] vacation, a living room upgrade, and a new bedroom furniture set provided a negative force on my bank accounts, while they were [...]

]]> By: Roundup for week of 26 August 2007: Country roads edition at Mighty Bargain Hunter http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118637 Roundup for week of 26 August 2007: Country roads edition at Mighty Bargain Hunter Sun, 02 Sep 2007 05:37:27 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118637 [...] Commentary is upgrading his living room entertainment.  This is tempting with HDTVs getting cheaper and better, but I hardly ever watch TV and only [...] [...] Commentary is upgrading his living room entertainment.  This is tempting with HDTVs getting cheaper and better, but I hardly ever watch TV and only [...]

]]> By: Upgrading My Living Room Entertainment, Part 3: High-Definition DVD on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118614 Upgrading My Living Room Entertainment, Part 3: High-Definition DVD on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:14:23 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118614 [...] complete—at least for now—my living room upgrade, I purchased a Toshiba HD-DVD (HD-A20) from Circuit City. Just looking at the listing now, I see [...] [...] complete—at least for now—my living room upgrade, I purchased a Toshiba HD-DVD (HD-A20) from Circuit City. Just looking at the listing now, I see [...]

]]> By: Mariette http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118610 Mariette Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:18:38 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118610 Flexo, You spoke of the effects of your purchase on your retirement funds and in fact you have offered a perfect example of why the whole saving for retirement thing is a process which is unique to each individual. It's easy to get caught up in depriving ourselves of everything in order to have "enough" money saved for retirement, frugality means different things to different people. The important thing is not to spend on credit and to spend less than you earn. It's all about balance. And for some people that will mean splurging on a luxury item now and then. Flexo,

You spoke of the effects of your purchase on your retirement funds and in fact you have offered a perfect example of why the whole saving for retirement thing is a process which is unique to each individual. It’s easy to get caught up in depriving ourselves of everything in order to have “enough” money saved for retirement, frugality means different things to different people. The important thing is not to spend on credit and to spend less than you earn. It’s all about balance. And for some people that will mean splurging on a luxury item now and then.

]]> By: Tim http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118584 Tim Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:46:30 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118584 yeah, don't get monster cable. they have done great marketing and cc and bb and the like use the marketing very well in order to mark up cable, when the cables themselves aren't anything special. the issue isn't necessarily the cable quality more than it is the amplification of the signal that can shoot all the data over long lengths b/c of resistance of the cable. however, just like s-video cables were subject to signal degradation over long lengths too, it can be easily solved by a signal amplifier. there is endless debate over cables. I consider myself an audiophile having a two channel stereo worth over $75k, and there is so much hype over the cable issue. with that said, the features of the tv will definitely depend on what your needs are. if you are watching mainly standard dvd and cable, then you don't need 1080p, 1080i, etc. moreover, you do not need any of the conversion features of the tv if you have, and which is the case, external sources like a cable or satellite box which does the conversion for you. that's why i think it is better to simply get a monitor rather than a tv. however, for the consumer market, companies for some reason like to include everything in the tv when it is not need nor used. yeah, don’t get monster cable. they have done great marketing and cc and bb and the like use the marketing very well in order to mark up cable, when the cables themselves aren’t anything special. the issue isn’t necessarily the cable quality more than it is the amplification of the signal that can shoot all the data over long lengths b/c of resistance of the cable. however, just like s-video cables were subject to signal degradation over long lengths too, it can be easily solved by a signal amplifier. there is endless debate over cables. I consider myself an audiophile having a two channel stereo worth over $75k, and there is so much hype over the cable issue.

with that said, the features of the tv will definitely depend on what your needs are. if you are watching mainly standard dvd and cable, then you don’t need 1080p, 1080i, etc. moreover, you do not need any of the conversion features of the tv if you have, and which is the case, external sources like a cable or satellite box which does the conversion for you. that’s why i think it is better to simply get a monitor rather than a tv. however, for the consumer market, companies for some reason like to include everything in the tv when it is not need nor used.

]]> By: Leroy Brown http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118575 Leroy Brown Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:12:14 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118575 Good call on the cables - monoprice is the way to go. I even ordered an extra one just in case I need it later. BBY and CC are always over $100 for HDMI cables.... simply insane markup. I'm all for making a profit, but there's a point when it's simply ridiculous. Good call on the cables – monoprice is the way to go. I even ordered an extra one just in case I need it later. BBY and CC are always over $100 for HDMI cables…. simply insane markup. I’m all for making a profit, but there’s a point when it’s simply ridiculous.

]]> By: Josh B. http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118574 Josh B. Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:03:30 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118574 Oh also: Gizmodo did a pretty interesting test of HDMI cables, comparing the performance of cheap cables to Monster et al. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php Oh also: Gizmodo did a pretty interesting test of HDMI cables, comparing the performance of cheap cables to Monster et al.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php

]]> By: Josh B. http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118573 Josh B. Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:00:25 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118573 If you put your purchase price and product info into http://www.priceprotectr.com/ it will send you an email you if the price drops in the next 30 days. Pretty slick. If you put your purchase price and product info into http://www.priceprotectr.com/ it will send you an email you if the price drops in the next 30 days. Pretty slick.

]]> By: Matt Wolfe http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118572 Matt Wolfe Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:35:56 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118572 That's great that you got a new TV. I've been wanting to upgrade to HD for quite some time now but haven't brought myself to spend the money. One of these days I will do it. That’s great that you got a new TV. I’ve been wanting to upgrade to HD for quite some time now but haven’t brought myself to spend the money. One of these days I will do it.

]]> By: Chris http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118567 Chris Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:52:30 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118567 I get all my cables from monoprice.com. The big box store prices on those things are ridiculous. I get all my cables from monoprice.com. The big box store prices on those things are ridiculous.

]]> By: Debt Free http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118566 Debt Free Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:40:55 +0000 http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2007/08/29/upgrading-my-living-room-entertainment-part-1-television/#comment-118566 Flexo, Good choice of TV (I have the 46" version of the same set), but the step up model (D82U) offers a 120Hz refresh rate that combats the motion artifacts that LCD TVs are known for, in addition to a better contrast ratio. Usually the incremental cost is fairly minimal. You got a great price on the set you chose however. Part of the reason that you were unable to get a discount on the unit is that there was a shortage of LCD panels at the manufacturer level recently. This has kept manufacturers from meeting the quantity demanded that was in part created by dropping flat panel TV prices. HDMI isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes it does, in fact give better image quality, but not all the time. In addition, HDMI is known to create, uh, issues with synching between display and source, due to either HDCP or distance. In longer lengths, HDMI is extremely sensitive to cable quality. If you are using longer cables (15'+) and are having problems, try using better cables. If your TV can properly deinterlace (convert it from 1080i to 1080p) the program material, you can still get the compete high definition experience if you are using a 1080i source, such as a cable box or satellite receiver. It's only when you transition to 1080p sources, such as BluRay Disc or HD-DVD that you need to use HDMI. That being said, you actually get no more information when using 1080p that 1080i for program material that was natively produced using film or 1080i video, as opposed to 1080p video. For film, this is due to the frame rate the film is shot at. email me with any questions. Flexo,

Good choice of TV (I have the 46″ version of the same set), but the step up model (D82U) offers a 120Hz refresh rate that combats the motion artifacts that LCD TVs are known for, in addition to a better contrast ratio. Usually the incremental cost is fairly minimal. You got a great price on the set you chose however.

Part of the reason that you were unable to get a discount on the unit is that there was a shortage of LCD panels at the manufacturer level recently. This has kept manufacturers from meeting the quantity demanded that was in part created by dropping flat panel TV prices.

HDMI isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it does, in fact give better image quality, but not all the time. In addition, HDMI is known to create, uh, issues with synching between display and source, due to either HDCP or distance. In longer lengths, HDMI is extremely sensitive to cable quality. If you are using longer cables (15′+) and are having problems, try using better cables.

If your TV can properly deinterlace (convert it from 1080i to 1080p) the program material, you can still get the compete high definition experience if you are using a 1080i source, such as a cable box or satellite receiver. It’s only when you transition to 1080p sources, such as BluRay Disc or HD-DVD that you need to use HDMI. That being said, you actually get no more information when using 1080p that 1080i for program material that was natively produced using film or 1080i video, as opposed to 1080p video. For film, this is due to the frame rate the film is shot at.

email me with any questions.

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