my new toys!!!!!!

I just bought a Vizio 32 inch LCD HDTV from Wal-Mart for 600 bucks and a HD Up-Conversion Philips DVD player for 70 bucks from Best Buy, hooked up with HDMI cable and PS2 with component cables. I'm loving it so much. You can kinda see my video game system collection and yes, I have plenty of games for each of those systems lol.


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too many abreviations make me just tune out.....looks like it's cool...I think.....(I still have a record player) no seriously though....I don't know anything about that sort of stuff.....but looks really cool! (did I mention I have a fully integrated VCR in my TV?)

I think I have a record player in the house somewhere. I have a one of those tv/vcr things that plugs into the cig lighter in the van for when we take trips. I usually play my psp on trips, It's in the pic by the way. I didn't notice that till I attached it lol.

You guys have record players, but do you USE them? I use mine almost daily...to play my disco records. You think I'm joking, but I'm not....LOL. Weird thing is...I know about modern electronics too. I'm just...weird. What can I say? LOL

Most audioholics will tell you that the cleanest sound can be had via a phonograph.  

Now all you need to do is get component cables for that Dreamcast, if they make them... lol
 
Sega needs to throw money into another console... They just need the software support...

Nah, they don't. They only make component cables for xbox, xbox 360. ps2, ps3, gamecube, and wii. I only have 2 conponent inputs, and two HDMI inputs. I have the DVD player in the HDMI 1 port and the PS2 in the component 1 port. 2 is going to be for gamecube when I get the cable. I also have sega saturn and an 8-bit nes toploader which are out of the pic. Hey drperry, do you have a sega nomad. They are pretty awesome. Sega should make a new console. They should call it the Sega SG4.

Nope... Only Sega products in our house are Game Gear, Master System, Genesis, and Dreamcast...
 
 
The need a new generation of Master System, lol

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ORIGINAL: BobTheBlazer

You guys have record players, but do you USE them? I use mine almost daily...to play my disco records. You think I'm joking, but I'm not....LOL. Weird thing is...I know about modern electronics too. I'm just...weird. What can I say? LOL

 
Hey I'm 16 and I have one. an old RCA and I have about 150 records. I use it mainly as a learning tool for new guitar riffs and solos. Records are easier to play along with because you just move the needle out to hear certain parts again... I use mine about once a week, sometimes more often, but Its really hard to find good rock records because if it was a really good record, people like to hold on to them.

YES DREAMCAST RULES!!!

I know this will make a few of you scratch your heads but does anyone remember the sony to dreamcast ports done by the company bleem? Makes me angry that i had to sell them but i had a whole bunch of those games (and tons of bleem swag from when they were going under and selling everything) and used to play them all the time on my dreamcast to agravate my buddies because my copy of the game ran better on the dreamcast than on their PS2's . 

ahhh, good old bleem, made a PSX emulator for PS2 as well!
 
Dreamcast was also good for running linux, making your own games, playing VCD's, if you felt like it, downloading your own games and playing burnt ones whas a whole lot easier than doing it in a ps2...

Never heard of bleem.  Hmmmm.  I just found on ebay an actual system that plays nes and super nes games in the same system.  It has two toploading slots.  Can't trust those systems made by some no-name japanese company though.  Gotta get the actual thing.  I love all my systems.  I play ps2 the most, but sometimes I feel like just having a blast from the past.

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ORIGINAL: davtak

Never heard of bleem.  Hmmmm.  I just found on ebay an actual system that plays nes and super nes games in the same system.  It has two toploading slots.  Can't trust those systems made by some no-name japanese company though.  Gotta get the actual thing.  I love all my systems.  I play ps2 the most, but sometimes I feel like just having a blast from the past.

 
Yeah Dave, I completely understand. Sometimes I just wanna play Tetris!!
 
Who am I kidding...I always wanna play Tetris.

Hows the TV treating you by now?  I want to get a HD LCD tv but Ive heard bad things about getting them from Wal Mart.  (these people are also TV salesmen at Karls and Best Buy though)  What do you think of yours?  I've also heard that 32" is a little small for a living room where I plan to put it, whats your input?

It's going really well. I haven't had any problems withy it at all. I must say that Gran Turismo 4 on PS2 looks so awesome. I'll try to get a pic of it next time I play, and when my room is cleaned up.

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Who am I kidding...I always wanna play Tetris.

I like to play Marble Madness and any Mega Man game I can get my hands on.

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Hows the TV treating you by now? I want to get a HD LCD tv but Ive heard bad things about getting them from Wal Mart. (these people are also TV salesmen at Karls and Best Buy though) What do you think of yours? I've also heard that 32" is a little small for a living room where I plan to put it, whats your input?

Never heard of Karl's, but I'm assuming electronics store. The thing I've realized at Best Buy and any electronics store for that matter (Circuit City, Tweeters, etc.), they try to sell you more than you need. I usually do my research first on the internet and then go to the store and find what I need and leave before they have a chance to suck me in. I could be wrong though, that's just my opinion. I read on yahoo one day that the tv brands that they sell at Wal-Mart and Target are just as good as Sony or Philips. In my opinion, a tv is made somwhat of the same parts, maybe 1 or 2 different things, but overall pretty much the same. With me, if I can save a few bucks, I'm going to do it. This tv is also widescreen which is awesome with the dvd player. As for room size, it's in my bedroom which is 9'x12'. It is good size for that. Actually I have a Philip's 32" flat crt tv in the living room. It's in a big armoire from Raymore and Flannigan though so it fits the room. It really depends on the size of the room. If you have a huge living room, you tend to put the couches or whatever you sit on closer to the tv anyway. For a living room, I would probably buy like a 40" or a 45" depending on the size of the room. I would definitely recommend the brand I bought, it is bright and the colors are really vibrant. They have larger sizes in that brand. Just check out wal-mart.com. As for the dvd player, unless you want to spend over 400 dollars for a good quality hd dvd player, I would strongly recommend getting a hd up-conversion dvd player with a HDMI port. Mine is a nice gloss black from Best Buy. I saw that they sold a polished silver at Target for 70 dollars also. If you have any questions about it at all, ask me and I'll go dig up the book for it. I think they have all the specs and anything you can think of on wal-mart.com, or you could try vizio.com. I think they have a website. That brand is only available at Wal-Mart though.

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I've also heard that 32" is a little small for a living room where I plan to put it, whats your input?

I can't say anything about where to buy them, as far as I know they all sell the same product.  I can tell you the size thing depends HEAVILY on how big the room is.  I have a 22 foot living room, and a 51" TV is just about perfect, but a 36" was too small.   My Bedroom is 12x13', and the 42" I have in there is a little too big IMO..I really need a 32 for that room, but I'm not gonna switch since I already have it.

Karl's is more a local store, thats preobably why you have never heard of it.  And I know what you are talking about at Best Buy, but the sales man I deal with is a friend I have known for a few years so I trust his opinion and they dont make commission there so there is really no point to them selling a higher priced TV except it makes them look good and the more money the company makes the more they make.  Im thinking a Samsung since everyone I talk to says not to go with anything besides them since they are the leaders in the HD TV market right now. 
 
Im thinking about a 42" since I have a big living room at my apartment, but I know I wont be here forever and this apartment is a pretty good deal and I doubt Ill find anyone this priced and this big anywhere else.  so I will have to move into a smaller one. 
 
I wont be buying one anytime soon since there are other more important ways to spend $500+.  I will buy one in the near future though. 
 
One thing to anyone else considering buying a good TV dont get Plasma.  We have them at work and the burn in is terrible. 

Plasma has burn in issues, yeah, but they're getting a lot better... There's usually options in the menu to turn on some anti-burn things...
 
Though, LCD will outlast a plasma any day of the week... Usually, the only thing that dies on an LCD is the flourescent bulb for the backlights... which is usually changeable...

For one, Vizio is not only available at Walmart.  It is also considered a bottom of th barrel brand.  I think for your use it is perfectly fine, but there is definitely a difference between a Vizio and a more established brand.  Another thing I want to mention is that Samsung is NOT the leader in the HD market.  The only Samsung I would even consider is a DLP, and I am not a huge DLP fan.  It is true that Plasmas will suffer from burn in if you are not wise in how you use it.  I have a plasma, play PS2 occasionally and have zero burn in issues.  People shop by price most of the time, so recommending sets is difficult without knowing a price point.  If money isn't really an issue, I would HIGHLY recommend a Pioneer plasma to anyone looking for quality.  The picture is practically unmatched in the market, whether it be plasma or lcd.  Plasma has a much sharper image quality IMHO.  

Plasma has better black level vs. LCD, and LCD is way easier to see in the sunlight over plasma (glass on the front = major light reflection, just like CRT's, LCD doesn't have the glass over the front of it.)
 
The major advantage plasma currently has over LCD is the size factor, you can get ginormous plasma's, and I think LCD is still under the 50" range.
 
LCD also uses less power than a plasma, LCD is much better than plasma if you plan on connecting the TV to a computer...
 
If there's a major difference in picture quality between a plasma set and an LCD set, it's brand/trim level quality, not the differences in technology (assuming that the TV's are set properly...)

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ORIGINAL: drperry

Plasma has better black level vs. LCD, and LCD is way easier to see in the sunlight over plasma (glass on the front = major light reflection, just like CRT's, LCD doesn't have the glass over the front of it.)

The major advantage plasma currently has over LCD is the size factor, you can get ginormous plasma's, and I think LCD is still under the 50" range.

LCD also uses less power than a plasma, LCD is much better than plasma if you plan on connecting the TV to a computer...

If there's a major difference in picture quality between a plasma set and an LCD set, it's brand/trim level quality, not the differences in technology (assuming that the TV's are set properly...)

Glare can definitely be an issue, although there are some plasmas that use a less reflective glass and have almost no reflection.  I think that using a tv for your computer use outside of watching downloaded movies is really not using it to its designed function.  That's just a personal opinion.  Brand can definitely play a role in the quality of an image, however I see multiple brands of both technologies on a weekly basis, in all kinds of settings with any kind of source you can think of, and I have yet to see a LCD that can really compare to a middle of the road plasma.  I compared the movie Cars on a 40" Sony XBR3 and an LG 42" 42PC3D.  The quality of the picture on the LG was FAR better in color, clearity, and depth then the Sony.  The XBR3 at the time was the king of the LCD mountain.  I am not a fan of LCD so nothing will change my mind at this point in time, so again all this is in my opinion, but like I said, I have compared with my eyes after tweaking settings, rather then going by the spec numbers or consumer reports and formed my own opinions.

That could be very true, as it's been awhile since I've gone tv shopping and got my LG-37LC2D

And even downloaded movies (ones with subtitles, at least) show up better on LCD than they do on plasma...

I almost went plasma, but the fact that I play a lot of video games, and use it for computer use (it looks and works just like a huge LCD monitor) and the fact that my TV is directly across from my window (the plasma was a little cheaper at the time) those were my deciding factors...

For pure movie watching, I still think plasma is the way to go...  But with a lot of video games having still pictures like HUD's and such, I prefer LCD, since there's no chance of burn in at all...

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ORIGINAL: drperry

That could be very true, as it's been awhile since I've gone tv shopping and got my LG-37LC2D

And even downloaded movies (ones with subtitles, at least) show up better on LCD than they do on plasma...

I almost went plasma, but the fact that I play a lot of video games, and use it for computer use (it looks and works just like a huge LCD monitor) and the fact that my TV is directly across from my window (the plasma was a little cheaper at the time) those were my deciding factors...

For pure movie watching, I still think plasma is the way to go...  But with a lot of video games having still pictures like HUD's and such, I prefer LCD, since there's no chance of burn in at all...

Well I have the LG plasma I mentioned and although I don't play a ton of games (sorry davtak), I do play some PS2.  With the orbiter setting set to on on my tv, I have had zero issues with burn in.  Like I said, no one can convince me to go LCD over plasma, but my needs don't require one.  I agree that if you tend to use your tv for computer viewing, that you probably want to go with an LCD.  Plasmas will look fine, but that is where your burn in issue will come into play.  Modern video games have a lot of movement, whereas your computer use obviously will have static images on the screen for long periods of time.  On a side note, you wouldn't believe what I got my LG for.  The joys of dealer cost combined with rebates.

I got kinda hooped on my LG, lol, a month after I got mine, they had a major price drop...