Inspired by our nation’s advanced terror warning system, I’m wondering where people think we are when it comes to buying a HDTV?
What if you’re color blind and all you see are various hues of blue and amber? Huh> What then?
Then you definitely should NOT buy a high-definition television set.
I voted “Yellow” because we’re on the cusp of ideal HDTV purchase time.
HDMI 1.3 sets are finally starting to hit the market, along with HDMI 1.3 players.
1080p is becoming more and more standard, and even if you don’t care about the increased resolution, it’s still worth noting that these sets are dropping in price quickly and newer, smaller models are being introduced in the plasma market, and bigger models in the LCD market.
If you don’t care about the increased colour depth of HDMI 1.3 and the increased resolution of 1080p then buy now. If you do care about those things (and I do), then I think just after Christmas this year is going to be a great time to pull the trigger. Boxing Day sales and all…
If you can, wait for the black monday deals. I just bought a 42" 1080p LCD a couple of months ago for $1550, but that was a special deal that was only active for 4 hours. Black monday will be full of those kinds of deals.
I’m waiting until I get some actual HD content on DVD (in whatever format). By then we might have real 1080p displays, too.
Voted for red light.
You have to pay a premium at this point not only for HDTV, but HD anything.
- HD-DVD (and Blu-Ray) players are about $1,000.
- HD-Tivo Series 3 is about $800
- HDMI-Receivers are well north of $1,000
- PS3 is $600 in large part because of the Blu-Ray drive
Basically to recreate my existing setup in HD, I’m honestly looking at paying about $7,000, which just ain’t worth it.
Right now these prices are for those who are willing to pay a premium.
That logic is insane. You do know you can make a slow transistion right? You dont have to run out and buy an HDTV and every other fucking new fangled HD product on the market.
Its like buying a 20k Honda Civic and then wanting to add in another 50k worth of parts and then bitching because the Civic costs too much.
Yeah between HD cable and the 360 I’m more than happy with my HDTV.
And you still don’t really need HDMI unless you are looking at the HD movie formats. I get a HD/PVR cablebox from my local provider too.
This is indeed nuts. I love how you argue that a Blu-Ray player costs $1000, then three lines later cite an example of a Blu-Ray player that costs $600 (actually $500) and is also a games console to boot.
An HD-DVD player can also be had for as cheap as $600, plus you get an Xbox 360 into that particular bargain.
Netflix is now offering Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies, btw. Comcast gives you an HD-DVR and receiver (which includes HDMI) for free and HD content costs only $10 more per month.
Your HD entry-level cost estimates are mucho inflated, sir!
The tivo series3 is worth every penny. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
Plus, you can get all of the broadcast networks HDTV feeds for the cost of an antenna (less than $30).
Depends on where you live. Before I got my cablecards I tried my damndest to get HD OTA and had very little luck. I could pick up ABCDT at 80%+ signal strength, but then I lost FOX and NBC. And vice versa. I spent a good 2-3 hours respositioning that damn antenna. Of course I live on the third floor of a manhattan apartment building and my TV is nowhere near the windows, and my “antenna” was a length of coaxial cable stripped down and wrapped around a clothes hangar, so like, your mileage may vary.
Check antennaweb to see which stations you can pick up.
No doubt. But most cable companies also rent HD DVRs for a trivial fee. They aren’t anywhere near as good as Tivo, but they are a very cheap stopgap until you want shell out for a Tivo Series 3.
Again, you don’t have to buy all this stuff at once. Same for DVD players. It would be insane, IMHO, to buy either an HD-DVD player or a Blu-Ray player now. Let the format war hash itself out first. In the meantime, even regular old DVDs look a hell of a lot better on an HDTV than they do on a standard def TV, so it’s not like “no HD DVD player” equals “no reason to have HDTV.”
My post just reflects what my costs would be if I wanted to replicate my existing system now, but in HD.
Personally, when I get an HDTV, I want to be able to watch TV in HD, play games in HD, and watch movies in HD (which, you’re right, I can do through the PS3). I also want to be able to route all of my AV equipment through a tuner, which would mean I’d have to upgrade my existing tuner.
All of these things will still cost money when I eventually buy them, of course. But at the moment, I think that everything HD is priced well above market what the market will eventually bear.
I don’t mind paying a premium on one of these. But all of 'em? Nah.
Wider adoption is not far off. And with it will come more down to earth pricing. My guess - a savings of $3,000 total is possible if I just wait another year. And given that I already have a nice setup, I’m happy to wait that long.
So buying things as they come down in price is not an option? Also you can take advantage of the HDTV now but really whatever you really have a wierd view on it.
You’re right, HDMI/DVI switching receivers are still pretty expensive. It’s nice to route both audio and video through a receiver, but hardly necessary. I just setup macros on my MX500 remote to switch both the receiver and TV inputs, works fine.
Price isn’t a factor and yet is. Financially, I could comfortably just buy everything now. The question for me is it worth it to buy everything now? And at this point, I’d say no.
About the only thing I really want to use an HDTV set for is to play video games. And paying thousands for that luxury just doesn’t strike as a good use of money (again, I’m speaking from my own vantage; you can assign your own value to your gaming experience). I’d rather wait.
And because I’ll wait, not only will the price of HDTV sets drop, so too will prices for HD-DVRs, HD consoles, HDMI/DVI receivers, etc.
Why did you even make this thread then? With in 2 hours you already knew what you wanted.
Well, I’m interested in where others are. I came to this conclusion but clearly others arrived at different conclusions.
I actually think your idea - of piecemeal purchasing - makes sound economic sense.