What is Your Tv Set Up like?

POSTED BY: spqr
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 08:40
VIEWED: 7893
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ZOID

Saturday, June 18, 2005 7:51 AM

spqr (yeah, I caught the reference from the staff caps on Imperial Roman banners):

Well, when I bought it, my 56" rear-projection set was the largest available, though being a Zenith, not the top quality. It's a good unit, which will be replaced by a 50+" HD rear-projection by this year's end, manufacturer yet to be determined. Price, performance and features will be carefully considered, with price being weighted above other variables. I will not pay more than $1800, and would prefer to catch a deal around $1200. They pop up now and again, but you've gotta be quick to catch 'em. (I got my eye on a particular Philips 52" model that keeps flying off the shelves at my local Sam's Club for $1295.)

Computers -- my passion. I build my own. I bought my last manufactured system in 1997 (a Gateway, yeesh). Since then, I've had 3 different cases (currently a Lian Li aluminum mid-tower w/ 550W power), and a new mobo/processor/video card, et cetera on rolling upgrades about every six months. Whenever I upgrade my main comp, I trickle the 'old' components down to my kids computers, based on their needs (my 15-year old daughter likes making message board websites and doing graphic arts; my 11-year old son is a fanatical gamer). When components come out the back door of this cycle, I buy a cheap case and power supply and build a system, which I then donate to a church or school. The last one I thus made went to a church child care center about 70 miles from where I live; the one before that went to my kids' old elementary school, 3 blocks from my house. (NB: These donees are always happy to have my hand-me-downs, since their existing computer equipment is severely antiquated. I also volunteer to fix computer-related problems for them.)

By the way: My Philips DVD player (which is a real beauty, btw) cost $85 at KMart. I stumbled across it last December (2004) while waiting for my wife to finish lusting after a Martha Stewart cookware set. I was flabbergasted that it played DivX format on recordable DVDs (*winks knowingly at people who know stuff*) and immediately bought one, before somebody figured out what it was and either outlawed them or jacked up the price a couple hundred bucks. All my friends got the tip from me, so I can appreciate the spirit in which you intended this thread...

Respectfully,

zoid

P.S.
I will buy a plasma TV once the price normalizes within the next 5 years. My $325 (last September) 19" dual analog/DVI LCD computer monitor would have cost over $2000 a couple of years ago.
_________________________________________________

"Sure as I know anything, I know this: I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDM'

MACBAKER

Saturday, June 18, 2005 9:44 AM

36" Sony Wega TV (Flatscreen, but standard 4x3 format)

Sony 5.1 DTS surround sound system, with five front speakers (one being the center channel), two rear, and a subwoofer. Two of the front speakers are Pioneer (R&L), the other front speakers are Sony (C, R&L, and Sub), and the rear speakers are Infinity flush wall mount units.

Dish network service, with a 80 hour DVR. (I never miss any shows I like anymore, and the quality of the DVR image and ease of use is so much better than recording on VHS)

Sony progressive scan 5 disk DVD changer. (Great for loading all four Firefly discs for non-stop watching parties)

iLo DVD recorder (cheap, but has worked great)

Sony VCR (for the handful of VHS tapes we still have)

X-box game system, with the DVD kit.

Wireless airport link between Sony reciever and Mac computer, so music from computer's iTunes playlists and podcasts can be played on home system. (so much better than changing cds, or listening to music on the tiny computer speakers)

My entire CD collection has been downloaded to my Mac, and backed-up on the internal RAID. The DVD collection is currently just under 400 titles (I have contacts in music and video retail distribution, so I get a lot of free screeners and a good discounts).

We plan to upgrade to a bigger 16X9 HDTV soon (probably LCD), and will add HD channels to our Dish service when we do. I'd also like to get one of those LCD command center remotes, so that I can retire the 5 remotes currently cluttering up one of the end tables.

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

NIKNAK

Saturday, June 18, 2005 10:38 AM

This one is a little complicated.

The signal comes in to a Telewest cable TV box. Audio goes straight to my Cambridge Audio A1mk3 hi-fi amplifier which is connected to Eltax Liberty 5 Speakers. Hi-fi sound is so much better than the crappy speakers usually attached to TVs.

An adapter converts the SPDIF output to S-video and a second audio output, both of which go to my AMD64 computer. The video is recieved by a cheap Pinnacle PCTV card. The software I use is tvtime on Linux, which has a great deinterlacer. The output goes via a DVI cable to my widescreen 23" Apple cinema display. I created a custom modeline in X (the Linux graphical system) so that it runs at 50Hz, the same as PAL, so the motion is as smooth as it should be.

DVDs are played on the computer using Totem with the Xine backend and libdvdcss.

23" doesn't sound very big but I've got a very small lounge and all the best TV shows are widescreen these days. It's resolution is 1920x1200 and is great for games too.

DARKJESTER

Saturday, June 18, 2005 2:19 PM

OK, I feel more than a little outclassed, but here goes.....

Main Entertainment System.....
Magnavox 25" TV and stereo VCR (both going on 10 years old)
Pioneer Pro-Logic receiver, around 80W/channel.
Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble II main speakers, Center Channel II center, BassCube10 subwoofer, and cheap KLH rear surrounds.
APEX DVD player (cheapest around, but it plays re-writable discs too!)
Signal (Comcast digital cable) comes through Motorola box.

Computer System.....
Cheap case, 400W.
Asus MB, Pentium 4 @ 2.4Ghz, 512Meg.
Creative SBLive audio card, Creative Inspire 2.1 speakers.
Motorola Surfboard cable modem, LinkSys router.
KDS 17" flat-screen monitor (Wal-Mart special).
ATI Radeon 7200 video card, ATI TV Wonder PCI capture card (352X240 max resolution) (works for recording and watching TV)
Adaptec USB 2.0 VideOh external capture box (640X480 resolution) for recording video from my camera.
TDK 440N DVD burner, -/+ R/RW
And my camera is a Sony Hi8 HandyCam.
I'm strictly amateur, recording family gatherings, graduations, etc. Record it, capture, edit, burn to DVD. Great to send to grandparents and/or others who couldn't be there.

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

FREMDFIRMA

Saturday, June 18, 2005 2:55 PM

Standard Issue 19" Zenith Dynacolor.

I don't think I've even turned the damn thing on again since they murdered our show.

My entertainment lies on the bookshelf.

-F

BLINKER

Saturday, June 18, 2005 4:18 PM

Uh... my TV has a screen.

_________
Sliders: Gate Haven - http://slidersweb.net/blinker

MUNN75

Saturday, June 18, 2005 5:28 PM

My set up, wife approved of course, is as follows:

Sony 55 inch LCD

Denon 6.1 channel Dolby Digital receiver

Atlantic Technology speakers 2 fronts, 2 rears, a center and a Sub

Denon Progressive Scan dvd player (tried the HD upconverting one but not that much better)

All Firefly, Angel and Buffy box sets + 24 and Dead Zone for good measure.

Firefly in 55 inch widescreen glory is one of the reasons I work overtime.

SIGMANUNKI

Saturday, June 18, 2005 5:38 PM

Philips 24" Real Flat TV with DVD-component video inputs (at least that's what the box says ).

Hooked upto it, I have a PS2, GC, VHS, one of my computers and MTS TV.

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

SERGEANTX

Saturday, June 18, 2005 7:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Standard Issue 19" Zenith Dynacolor.

I don't think I've even turned the damn thing on again since they murdered our show.

My entertainment lies on the bookshelf.

-F

Indeed! It was the last straw for me as well.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

MOJAVE

Saturday, June 18, 2005 10:45 PM

SPQR, thanks for starting this topic. I'm putting together a home theater to maximize my Firefly viewing, so far it's just a Samsung 27" HDTV. Was looking closely at that Denon DVD-1910, but you don't sound too impressed? And can you report if they did anything interesting with the surround mix on the Firefly DVDs?

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