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Help with buying a HDTV with XDA expertise...

I'm looking for some help with buying a HDTV. I would like to keep it between $500-$1000 with a good 5 yr warranty.
I'm open to all suggestions, lcd or plasma, or whatever anyone has to say.
Are there any deals somewhere? I know Circuit City will beat prices...
I see a lot of people here at XDA who know what they are doing and so why not ask for help?
Thanks
edit: Does anyone know when the industry switches so that I might get an older model for cheap?

what do you mean does anyone know when the industry switches?
Rory

yi3o8 said:
I
edit: Does anyone know when the industry switches so that I might get an older model for cheap?
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Sometime in February 2009, but this will not effect HDTVs as they are already digital. This will only affect older model TV's that require an analog signal.

Hey mate
can I suggest you go to www.avforums.com. This is a forum all about audio/visual kit and by far and away one of the VERY best places for advice like this.
It is a UK site but the models and comments will be relevant to you. They will probably even know where to get "it" in the US as well as a lot of them buy kit and ship it over.... gota love that American "Monopoly money"

Thanks.
I have checked out avforums, I know what to get, but I am trying to find a deal cuz I'm a poor ol' college student.
By switching over, I mean getting rid of all the old models, I don't plan on using an antenna for a hdtv
Thanks again, and I'll post when I figure it out. So far, a 42" element for $700 at circuit city looks good, but I am trying to get the $400 warranty down

By switching over, I mean getting rid of all the old models, I don't plan on using an antenna for a hdtv
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Over here in the UK, as I understand it, we are about to launch the first freeview HD "over antena" where previously it has been the domain of Freesat or cable.
$700 for a 42"???? Thats a bit cheap to say the least, what model is it? Is it only 480 or does it go to 720? I doubt for that price its 1080. $400 for a warranty? Doesn't it come with one included? Us Brits really start appreciating our "1984 Sales Of Goods Act"!

I picked up my 42" LCD at Best Buy. I managed to haggle to sales manager down to $980. Came out to $1230 out the door with tax and the four year warranty included.
The new LCD's are amazing. Ultra thin, crystal clear quality. I run mine in 1080p via HDMI cables; The HD cable box, the X Box 360, the Blueray player, all via HDMI. Gorgeous.

42" is too small for a 1080p screen. Over on AVForums they suggest the bare minimum for seeing the extra detail that a 1080 screen gives, you need at least a 46 and ideally a 50 .... or its just wasted and the human eye cannot see the diference between 720 and 1080.
Out of interest, what model can you get for that money? (excluding warranty)

Monty Burns said:
42" is too small for a 1080p screen. Over on AVForums they suggest the bare minimum for seeing the extra detail that a 1080 screen gives, you need at least a 46 and ideally a 50 .... or its just wasted and the human eye cannot see the diference between 720 and 1080.
Out of interest, what model can you get for that money? (excluding warranty)
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The model is
Element 42" Plasma HDTV
(ELE PHD42W39US)
Asked to get the tax covered which makes it $700. The specs look good, but I would need the warranty even if it was a name brand.

Decided on...
I realize noone will probably care, but I decided on a philips 32" that I like. I was told they were bought by LG, but this tv looked good and so I went for it.
I got it from newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889104111 and was given a $40 discount and it came with free shipping. With a 4 yr warranty it all came to $760.
This tv from sam's club would have been $638 + $78 3 yr warranty (which I don't trust walmart to be easy to deal with) + $44 taxes = $760 ... plus a lot of gas.
From circuit city, I could have got a 40" samsung or polaroid for about $1000 after the 3 yr warranty, or a 37" vizio for $785 - all of these being open box and reduced.
I went for higher end and a place that I trust.

Sounds very coool! Let us know how it works out for U...

Hah something on XDa that i know more than a few people...with tv i would go with Sony or Samsung LCD their new line are very good...deep black level i would go with samsung 6 or 7 series...and Sony their new XBR8 coming out soon which is over price but should be very nice...some people say that HDTV they all look the same nuh uh...lil things like 120htz and 1080p matters but only if u get something bigger than a 40 inch...best is research on avsforum cause stores like bestbuy and all of them set their tv on display or store mode where the contrast and brightness at highest u got to see a tv in dark room to apppreciate its beauty...

Yep, little things do matter
jtoyz2 said:
Hah something on XDa that i know more than a few people...with tv i would go with Sony or Samsung LCD their new line are very good...deep black level i would go with samsung 6 or 7 series...and Sony their new XBR8 coming out soon which is over price but should be very nice...some people say that HDTV they all look the same nuh uh...lil things like 120htz and 1080p matters but only if u get something bigger than a 40 inch...best is research on avsforum cause stores like bestbuy and all of them set their tv on display or store mode where the contrast and brightness at highest u got to see a tv in dark room to apppreciate its beauty...
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Thanks for the advice. I couldn't find a 120 mhz for cheap, and I'm on a budget. But I looked very closely at bigger tvs that did not look as good as the philips 5000 series which has a 26000:1 contrast ratio. If I had more money I would have gone with the 7000 series and if I had a ton of money I would have went the route you mentioned
Stupid commercialism, it's like: spend just this much more and you get this this and that. If you try to get a deal and buy junk, you realize these things make a big difference. And 1080p will be standard by next year...

yi3o8 said:
... And 1080p will be standard by next year...
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I hope not!
I would imagine the bulk of TV's are the 40" or below area and thats useless for 1080. As I mentioned and the poster above you need somewhere in the 40's and idealy higher foro 1080 to be any use. Mines a 46" Samsung and to be honest, I can't really tell the diference when playing a BD through it from a 720 or 1080 - mind you, my eyes are 34 years old
If it becomes standard, a lot of people are going to be paying extra for tech in the tv thats useless.

yi3o8 said:
Thanks for the advice. I couldn't find a 120 mhz for cheap, and I'm on a budget. But I looked very closely at bigger tvs that did not look as good as the philips 5000 series which has a 26000:1 contrast ratio. If I had more money I would have gone with the 7000 series and if I had a ton of money I would have went the route you mentioned
Stupid commercialism, it's like: spend just this much more and you get this this and that. If you try to get a deal and buy junk, you realize these things make a big difference. And 1080p will be standard by next year...
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i dont think 1080p will be standard by next year...HD and Digital will be...cause 720p is HDTV...if you on a budget buying a TV you are looking at the right direction with Philips LCd they are very good...

I just recently bought one of those new Vizio Plasma's and I must say I am quite impressed. This is the first hdtv I have purchased since my old fat sony one has lasted for more than 15 years haha. I got the 32 inch model for only 549 from walmart. That seems like a pretty damn good deal to me for a 32 inch screen. Picture quality is excellent even compared to my friend's auquos. My only gripe is the sound quality inst the best coming from the small drivers under the screen. However, 549 for a 32 inch plasma is almost unheard of for the type of quality that you receive with these displays. Good luck.

Vizio are decent tv...the best out of the lesser known brand...but if u can buy it at costco because their return policy is 90 days...and in that time frame u can decide if that something u would like to keep...Aquos have the best black level on most LCD...their black level can be compare with Plasma sometime even better...of course lcd and plasma u can compare the difference only if its 40inch or bigger...anything smaller i think most brand would do...

[Q] smartphone display technology for comp monitors

hey OT dwellers.
wouldnt it be really nice if we could impliment scren technology onto computer monitors? that way at this rate we would be getting something like 4x 720p res with only a 10 inch screen!
considering 720p on the galaxy nexus 4.65 in screen...
tl;dr
any thoughts on retinal display (or similar) for computer monitors?
just my thought.
what do you peeps think?
comments appreciated

ClementNg23 said:
hey OT dwellers.
wouldnt it be really nice if we could impliment scren technology onto computer monitors? that way at this rate we would be getting something like 4x 720p res with only a 10 inch screen!
considering 720p on the galaxy nexus 4.65 in screen...
tl;dr
any thoughts on retinal display (or similar) for computer monitors?
just my thought.
what do you peeps think?
comments appreciated
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You can already get Monitor sized AMOLED displays with high pixel densities, if you're willing to pay tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars for them.
The technology is barely there atm though for scaling production up to these sizes. There are limited materials, limited resources and no consumer base as nobody would be willing to pay the current asking price.
There's also little advantage in having extreme pixel densities on displays that you are 5' away from when using them. Amoled would also be terrible on large displays, especially when IPS does a much better job at reproducing colour accurately and is an existing, tried and true, technology.
I'd rather see existing tech, and the processes used to create it, improved so that a reduction in cost can be passed along to us consumers.

DirkGently said:
You can already get Monitor sized AMOLED displays with high pixel densities, if you're willing to pay tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars for them.
The technology is barely there atm though for scaling production up to these sizes. There are limited materials, limited resources and no consumer base as nobody would be willing to pay the current asking price.
There's also little advantage in having extreme pixel densities on displays that you are 5' away from when using them. Amoled would also be terrible on large displays, especially when IPS does a much better job at reproducing colour accurately and is an existing, tried and true, technology.
I'd rather see existing tech, and the processes used to create it, improved so that a reduction in cost can be passed along to us consumers.
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good sir, have an u̶p̶v̶o̶t̶e̶ thumbs-up

Streak 7 worth it at this point?

I bought one a while ago when there was a sale on them, but ultimately returned it because I didn't really have a use for it at the time and was kinda strapped on cash. Anyway, considering getting another one, primarily since it's the only decent 7" tablet I know of with a full-size SD slot (which would make transferring videos a breeze - my primary use for it).
Is it still worth it, though, considering the low screen resolution? There's the Huawei Mediapad / T-Mobile Springboard, which in comparison runs for about $100-$150 more, and has a 1280x800 screen, in addition to HDMI-out without a dock (and possibly phone call support with ICS, although I can't confirm that on the Springboard at least). Of course, that $100-$150 extra may not be worth it, or could be put toward something else.
I mean, the two primary uses of the device would be watching videos and reading books...would a higher resolution really be that beneficial? Most of the videos I'd plan to load onto the device would be like 620x350 or something like that - all below 800x480; being able to load 720p files and have them hardware-accelerated would be nice, though.

magus57 said:
I bought one a while ago when there was a sale on them, but ultimately returned it because I didn't really have a use for it at the time and was kinda strapped on cash. Anyway, considering getting another one, primarily since it's the only decent 7" tablet I know of with a full-size SD slot (which would make transferring videos a breeze - my primary use for it).
Is it still worth it, though, considering the low screen resolution? There's the Huawei Mediapad / T-Mobile Springboard, which in comparison runs for about $100-$150 more, and has a 1280x800 screen, in addition to HDMI-out without a dock (and possibly phone call support with ICS, although I can't confirm that on the Springboard at least). Of course, that $100-$150 extra may not be worth it, or could be put toward something else.
I mean, the two primary uses of the device would be watching videos and reading books...would a higher resolution really be that beneficial? Most of the videos I'd plan to load onto the device would be like 620x350 or something like that - all below 800x480; being able to load 720p files and have them hardware-accelerated would be nice, though.
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I don't think it is worth the $300 price any longer, but if you can find it for $100-$150, then I say it would be worth it.

At this point I wouldn't buy one that didn't come with a warranty. Parts are too difficult/impossible to find.
good luck,

otnos said:
I don't think it is worth the $300 price any longer, but if you can find it for $100-$150, then I say it would be worth it.
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DCoop said:
At this point I wouldn't buy one that didn't come with a warranty. Parts are too difficult/impossible to find.
good luck,
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In that case, any idea where I could buy one with a warranty for around $200? Or a 4G T-Mobile version with a warranty for around $300?
EDIT: Anybody know if this site is legit, at least with the 1-year warranty?:
https://www.blinq.com/#computers-ne...d-2-2-froyo-16gb-tablet/51763?source=googleps

magus57 said:
In that case, any idea where I could buy one with a warranty for around $200? Or a 4G T-Mobile version with a warranty for around $300?
EDIT: Anybody know if this site is legit, at least with the 1-year warranty?:
https://www.blinq.com/#computers-ne...d-2-2-froyo-16gb-tablet/51763?source=googleps
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Seeing as they are discontinues it's a pretty long shot as to finding one with a warranty for that money. The fact it has a warranty and that new is gonna drive the price up to 250 or 300

blinq.com got really good reviews over at Amazon, so they are legitimate. The Dell 7's they have are used but they do come with a 1 year warranty. Having said that, and having had a Streak7 for 4 months, I'd recommend looking for something else. I just checked my local Craigslist and saw a brand new HP Touchpad 32Gig for $250. I'm sure it could be bought for less if you had cash.
I really grew to like my S-7, I had an ipad2 for several months and it doesn't compare of course, but for what it costs (I got my Streak 7 for $150 used) it does a great job. Yes the screen isn't great but you adjust to it, but it certainly wasn't worth the $300-400 it originally cost. If Dell would upgrade the screen and processor it would be a winner. I love the 7" screen and that's what I'm going to buy in the future, something with a really nice 7" screen and a new processor. I use mine most of the time in a car or airplane and the 7" is so much better in size for those applications.
I dropped my Streak onto a tile floor from my desk and it cracked the glass that covers the screen. The screen itself is perfect, just the glass covering is cracked. It's hard to find another glass that covers the screen, there aren't any in the US, the Chinese want $90 to deliver a new screen with glass, and mine only cost $150 to begin with. So the difference as far as my monetary loss between not buying or buying the screen is $60. So I could write off the $60 and put the $90 screen cost towards an HP or other tablet.
Good luck with what you decide,

Find something else. There isn't much development for the streak 7. Only one ROM out there if you like to play around with stuff like that. the battery is pretty weak. 4 hours our less and then you're scrambling for a charger if you're doing anything important. I have had my 4g version for about a year and the headphone jack is acting up. I tried to clean it andit still usually only likes to play out of the right ear. I have to jiggle it around and then not move it. I like to use my Bluetooth headphones most of the time, but that runs the Barry down even faster. I am going to try and find something else soon. But I do like the 7 inch form factor. Not to big, not to small.

Battery life isn't bad after a custom rom and a few tweeks.
Get ICS B4 or HoneyStreak R8, get SetCPU and set up some profiles to slow down the processor when screen is off.
I usually get about 48 hours of standby time, and 5-8 hours of video watching.

giveen said:
Battery life isn't bad after a custom rom and a few tweeks.
Get ICS B4 or HoneyStreak R8, get SetCPU and set up some profiles to slow down the processor when screen is off.
I usually get about 48 hours of standby time, and 5-8 hours of video watching.
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Does it not already have deep sleep at kernel level?
Looking into buying since rez isn't an issue and many other tablets that are of same price range have no development know not much here but least a few ROMs and Kernel.
It'd just be used when mobile as carry a 19" workstation anyway.
Main device would still be SGSII.
Sent from the valley of the shadows......

Display resolution

Hey guys!
I'm currently using a xperia zl. I will get a new phone soon, and I really love the z3 compact.
There's only one thing that bothers me: the display resolution
Is it possible for a normal human being like me to see any difference between my current full hd reaolution and the z3c's hd?
I'm reading a lot on my phone, what about tiny little fonts?
I am also connecting my phone to my tv via mhl. Does the resolution of the phone's display affect the pictire on the tv?
Or am I just a victim of the full (or even quad) hd advertising campaign...?
Thanks for your opinion!

sturmtruppler said:
Hey guys!
I'm currently using a xperia zl. I will get a new phone soon, and I really love the z3 compact.
There's only one thing that bothers me: the display resolution
Is it possible for a normal human being like me to see any difference between my current full hd reaolution and the z3c's hd?
I'm reading a lot on my phone, what about tiny little fonts?
I am also connecting my phone to my tv via mhl. Does the resolution of the phone's display affect the pictire on the tv?
Or am I just a victim of the full (or even quad) hd advertising campaign...?
Thanks for your opinion!
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No
Maybe...?
Yes
Yes you're being brainwashed by ads. Companies tend to go for higher and higher resolutions acting as if that really makes a phone better, but it doesn't. Why would such a small device need such a high resolution? It's not like we'll see the difference between 720p and 4k.
On a big screen (monitor) yes! On a phone, HELL NO... It will only deplete your battery faster.
About your TV resolution... well I think it depends how old your TV is. If my mind serves me right, TV's didn't had that great resolutions.

sturmtruppler said:
Hey guys!
I'm currently using a xperia zl. I will get a new phone soon, and I really love the z3 compact.
There's only one thing that bothers me: the display resolution
Is it possible for a normal human being like me to see any difference between my current full hd reaolution and the z3c's hd?
I'm reading a lot on my phone, what about tiny little fonts?
I am also connecting my phone to my tv via mhl. Does the resolution of the phone's display affect the pictire on the tv?
Or am I just a victim of the full (or even quad) hd advertising campaign...?
Thanks for your opinion!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you will notice no difference.
Also some big TV´s had in the past "only" 720p....
720p is full enough and will save the battery comparing to FullHD

On a screen of this size I think even 720p is more than sufficient. Even on a 32" TV your naked eyes will not be able to differentiate 720p from 1080p from a certain distance. The advantage in terms of battery saving is huge and I really am happy that this phone came with only 720p.

sturmtruppler said:
Hey guys!
I'm currently using a xperia zl. I will get a new phone soon, and I really love the z3 compact.
There's only one thing that bothers me: the display resolution
Is it possible for a normal human being like me to see any difference between my current full hd reaolution and the z3c's hd?
I'm reading a lot on my phone, what about tiny little fonts?
I am also connecting my phone to my tv via mhl. Does the resolution of the phone's display affect the pictire on the tv?
Or am I just a victim of the full (or even quad) hd advertising campaign...?
Thanks for your opinion!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Like everyone else said, 720p is just perfect for a phone of this size. 1080p or higher would has been an "overkill" at the expense of battery life.
As for the TV output it depends on the resolution/quality of the original content. If you are just generally mirroring your phone screen it will have a resolution of 720p on the TV (which itself is a very decent quality, most content on TV is 720p anyways). But playing back a high quality 1080p or 4K (the Sony Z3 Compact supports 4K video recording) video from phone, it will be displayed as Full HD on the TV.

http://wolfcrow.com/blog/notes-by-dr-optoglass-the-resolution-of-the-human-eye/
The most important thing when talking about ppi and which no one of the marketing departments mentions of course, is the viewing distance.
This article is very clear, for a normal human eye 720p at a viewing distance of 30 cm which is quite normal for a phone is sufficient. So, 1080p is already for most of us overkill and everything above pure male cow excrement.

No, No, & No lol. I enjoy that some companies are trying to get rid of this ridiculous trend (SONY, Motorola, etc.) I'm sure there are more trying to. We could probably have had 3-4 days battery by now if people weren't obsessed with buying into expensive power hungry components.
Guess ads are to blame too, thanks Samsung. Cough *Galaxy Notes -__- nothing wrong with a Note but the screen res is overkill to the max. Anyway rant done, enjoy your amazing battery life you buy it because you didn't get sucked into buying an unnecessary big display.

Ok, ok, I understood...
Thank you all for your opinions and links! :thumbup:

You could probably tell side-by-side. You won't care.

Side by side with my one m7 full hd and i can t tell the difference.

Hi
In my opinion it's all about compromise and priorities. Personally I have just moved from an LG G3 (Quad HD display) to the Z3 Compact.
Side by side the LG G3 really looks the business - in fact it is startling. But, the Z3C has a good screen, is much more pocketable, has brilliant battery life (I used to carry a spare with the LG just in case though never actually needed it - came close though), and outdoors in bright sunlight the Sony is much better.
So for me the compromises favoured the Sony.
As ever it's just my opinion but I hope it helps

Dumb TV Price Trends/Discontinuing??

Hi everyone. With the current trend of smart and 4k TVs it looks like the price of your older school 1080p "dumb" (non smart) tvs are coming down nicely. However, if you walk into any electronics store you'll find dumb tvs harder and harder to come by. However, when you do find them they cost much less than their smart counterparts.
I'm in the market for my first TV. I want a dumb tv that's 1080p that's 50"+. My laptop can easily supply the "brains" and 4k doesn't provide a noticeable improvement unless I sit really closely. In Canada they're easily under 1000. My question to you, my fellow gadget lovers, is now a good time to buy or will the prices drop even lower forseeably? Or will dumb tvs go extinct and this is as good as it gets for price?
You're thoughts??
Content wise, it's gonna be used almost exclusively for anime.