Cowboys and HDTV question

[silverbear]

how much is the hdtv direct tv?

I'm not real sure what you're asking here... if you're asking about my 38" RCA with the HD DirecTV receiver built in, it cost me 2500 bucks, but that was 4 and a half years ago... I don't even kow if they make it or not, but if they do, it's probably up close to 3 grand now...

And like I said, that's a conventional TV, not a plasma (flat panel) TV... that sucker's HEAVY...

 

[TEK2000]

It somewhat depends on the native resolution of your set, I think. My set is 1080i, so the 720p signal that is broadcast by Fox, ABC, and ESPN don't look as good as the CBS broadcasts, which are in 1080i.

OTOH, the CBS broacasts occasionally look worse (sort of pixelated I guess) when there is a zoomed in action shot with a lot of movement.

That's the difference between Interlaced (1080i) and Progressive (720p) scan. Interlaced always struggles with fast motion and winds up being blurry.

 

[RCowboyFan]

I'm not real sure what you're asking here... if you're asking about my 38" RCA with the HD DirecTV receiver built in, it cost me 2500 bucks, but that was 4 and a half years ago... I don't even kow if they make it or not, but if they do, it's probably up close to 3 grand now...

And like I said, that's a conventional TV, not a plasma (flat panel) TV... that sucker's HEAVY...

Are you sure there is Directive HD reciever built in with a TV? I seriously doubt that. There are TV with Built in HD recievers but no Sattelite recievers built in. I think that wouldn't be a good manufacturing idea either, I guess unless some people want to pay preminium for satellite reciever built in. Even then I doubt it.

But TV's with built in HD recievers do cost good $200 + more than TV without them. Which is basically same as buying seperate HD recievers, except you wont have one extra thing to setup or hook up I guess.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Your TV is the reason CBS looks so much better, Bear... The tube HDTVs from a couple of years ago don't show 720p, which is what ABC and Fox use. So your TV is downconverting the 720p signal to 480p, which isn't really "HD", although it still looks a lot better than conventional 480i.

I know because I had a similar set until this year, when I got a plasma. Now I actually prefer the 720p. Monday Night Football in particular looks unbelievable.

 

[calico]

I keep putting off getting an HDTV, but I am finally going to pick one up soon.

I don't really have more than $1200 to spend on one and I am torn between a 32 inch LCD or a 30 CRT HD Tv...both widescreen with all the connections (HDMI) for next generation DVD and Blu-ray.

I would get a better brand TV and save about $300 if I went with the CRT HD compared to a lowered end LCD...

 

[RCowboyFan]

I keep putting off getting an HDTV, but I am finally going to pick one up soon.

I don't really have more than $1200 to spend on one and I am torn between a 32 inch LCD or a 30 CRT HD Tv...both widescreen with all the connections (HDMI) for next generation DVD and Blu-ray.

I would get a better brand TV and save about $300 if I went with the CRT HD compared to a lowered end LCD...

Or you could get HD DLP projector, with screen free, and get upto 100" screen for about $1300.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Calico, JMO, but I would still go with the larger LCD... I had a tube HDTV before and Bear is right, the thing is absolutely monstrously heavy. Plus, not all of them do 720p. If you do your research, some of the supposed lesser brands do great

The Westinghouse LCDs get pretty good reviews, and the 32" is $999. (And the 37" is like $1399. )

Another thing you could look for is an HDTV "monitor", which doesn't have the digital/HD tuner built in. There probably aren't many of those around anymore, but they are cheaper, and if you have cable box or an HDTV over the air receiver, you don't need the tuner built in.

 

[RCowboyFan]

Calico, JMO, but I would still go with the larger LCD... I had a tube HDTV before and Bear is right, the thing is absolutely monstrously heavy. Plus, not all of them do 720p. If you do your research, some of the supposed lesser brands do great

The Westinghouse LCDs get pretty good reviews, and the 32" is $999. (And the 37" is like $1399. )

Another thing you could look for is an HDTV "monitor", which doesn't have the digital/HD tuner built in. There probably aren't many of those around anymore, but they are cheaper, and if you have cable box or an HDTV over the air receiver, you don't need the tuner built in.

Or go for HDTV projection TVs. You can can get good LCD projection TV, about 50 Inches, without built in reciever for 12-1300 bucks.

 

[FLcowboy]

I just made the leap to HDTV with directv. Can anyone tell me how many Cowboy games are supposed to be in HD this season? How many were in HDTV last season? Anyone have information?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but all the Cowboys games on the NFL package were in HD last year except maybe one. However, the Cowboys games this year that are on regular broadcast may be on HD, if you have an on-air antenna you may get them in HD. I don't, so it really isn't that great of a deal for me.

 

[TEK2000]

I dont know about you guys but, if you get a very big LCD screen (say 40"+).. the dots of the screen are REALLY BAD. Large LCD screens don't look anywhere close to as clear as a DLP Projection when you get into the larger screen sizes because th LCD's start to pixelate badly while the DLP doesn't have "blocks" until over 60". At least that's the way I see it when I walk thru Fry's and examine all the big screens.

Now, the plasma screens are as clear as can be at even the biggest screens they had in the store.

 

[calico]

Thanks for the info guys....I really wish I had more money. I almost bought a Westinghouse LCD last year, but they did not have HDMI connections.

These are the current ones I am looking at:

magnavox

Toshiba

samsung


I really am in no rush for an HD since they continue to drop in price and my 36 CRT Wega gets about the best standard pic possible.

 

[the kid 05]

calico have you checked out olievia's tvs? i got a 27 inch lcd hdtv for 800...it has your hdmi imputs on the 42 inch model-cost is 1700, not that shabby

here is the direct link to it

http://secure.syntaxgroups.com/products/detail.jsp?pid=LT42HVi

here it is at tigerdirect.com

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1516411&CatId=386

i bought mine through tiger they are reliable source for stuff like this and computers

 

[calico]

^^

I have not looked at them in a while. I almost got one at cost last year with a friend's employee discount, but I backed out at the last min.

 

[silverbear]

Are you sure there is Directive HD reciever built in with a TV? I seriously doubt that.

Don't doubt it, I meant what I said... it's an RCA, 38" diameter, HDTV with the DirecTV HD receiver built into it... model number F38310... you can read all about it on Amazon.com, at the following link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005BIB8/103-1087229-8913429?v=glance&n=172282

Having just read it myself, I learned that my set is indeed in the 1080i format... and when I referred to it as heavy, they say it weighs 214 pounds...

I'd say that's heavy, wouldn't you?? LOL...

It seems to be a discontinued model, but I found one for sale on ebay with a "Buy It Now" price of an even $1000.00... in looking around for more info on it, I found a LOT of negative reviews about the set, lots of folks seemed to have problems with it, but mine has been working perfectly for 4 and a half years now...

Anyway, you might find the link to the ebay site informative too:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-F38310-38-H...ryZ11072QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

No offense taken at you questioning what I said, RCF... I hope I've satisfied your skepticism... it really is convenient to have the DirecTV receiver built in, but there is one drawback-- there's no video out jack on it, so I can't record shows on a VCR or DVD recorder off of it... I have other TVs in the house (a 32 inch RCA in my bedroom) hooked to a conventional DirecTV receiver (not HD), that I can record with, but of course that means I can't record anything in HD...

If I had come into some money another year or two later, I would certainly have bought a plasma instead, but at the time I bought my RCA (October of 2001), plasmas were still very expensive, the least expensive I could find was more than twice the price of that RCA... and since I was set on building a total home entertainment center (Pioneer Elite equipment, their top of the line, with JBL Studio Series 5.1 speakers), I just didn't have the budget to go flat panel back then, so the RCA was the best compromise I could come up with...

 

[silverbear]

Your TV is the reason CBS looks so much better, Bear... The tube HDTVs from a couple of years ago don't show 720p, which is what ABC and Fox use. So your TV is downconverting the 720p signal to 480p, which isn't really "HD", although it still looks a lot better than conventional 480i.

I know because I had a similar set until this year, when I got a plasma. Now I actually prefer the 720p. Monday Night Football in particular looks unbelievable.

That makes sense, and gives me yet another reason to dream of "retiring" the RCA back to my bedroom, letting the nephew inherit the 32 incher in my bedroom, and get me a 42" plasma for the living room... the wall space I have available in my living room won't allow for anything larger than that, or I'd be thinking 50 incher... but really, 42 inches would be good enough, for that matter I'm quite happy with the picture size on the RCA...

The next time my ship comes in... thanks for explaining that in a way that I can understand...

 

[silverbear]

Thanks for the info guys....I really wish I had more money. I almost bought a Westinghouse LCD last year, but they did not have HDMI connections.

These are the current ones I am looking at:

magnavox

Toshiba

samsung


I really am in no rush for an HD since they continue to drop in price and my 36 CRT Wega gets about the best standard pic possible.

The Wega is a very good conventional TV... of the 3 you're looking at, I'd go with the Magnavox... don't care for Samsung equipment, and am kinda lukewarm on Toshiba...

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The Wega is a very good conventional TV... of the 3 you're looking at, I'd go with the Magnavox... don't care for Samsung equipment, and am kinda lukewarm on Toshiba...

Samsung is better :

 

[rgcowboys]

I have the Superfan package and I watched all of the Cowboy games in HDTV. I live in N.J. You really get to see the hits.

 

[lurkercowboy]

I keep putting off getting an HDTV, but I am finally going to pick one up soon.

I don't really have more than $1200 to spend on one and I am torn between a 32 inch LCD or a 30 CRT HD Tv...both widescreen with all the connections (HDMI) for next generation DVD and Blu-ray.

I would get a better brand TV and save about $300 if I went with the CRT HD compared to a lowered end LCD...

I bought the 34 inch Sony Wega KD34XBR970 last week and I really couldn't be happier with it. It cost a little under $1200 and the picture quality is great on HD and good on SDTV. It does 1080i and 720p very well and it has HDMI as well as several other inputs/outputs.

The only problem was bringing it into the house. It is very very heavy. But once it is set up, no problem.

 

[RCowboyFan]

Don't doubt it, I meant what I said... it's an RCA, 38" diameter, HDTV with the DirecTV HD receiver built into it... model number F38310... you can read all about it on Amazon.com, at the following link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005BIB8/103-1087229-8913429?v=glance&n=172282

Having just read it myself, I learned that my set is indeed in the 1080i format... and when I referred to it as heavy, they say it weighs 214 pounds...

I'd say that's heavy, wouldn't you?? LOL...

It seems to be a discontinued model, but I found one for sale on ebay with a "Buy It Now" price of an even $1000.00... in looking around for more info on it, I found a LOT of negative reviews about the set, lots of folks seemed to have problems with it, but mine has been working perfectly for 4 and a half years now...

Anyway, you might find the link to the ebay site informative too:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-F38310-38-H...ryZ11072QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

No offense taken at you questioning what I said, RCF... I hope I've satisfied your skepticism... it really is convenient to have the DirecTV receiver built in, but there is one drawback-- there's no video out jack on it, so I can't record shows on a VCR or DVD recorder off of it... I have other TVs in the house (a 32 inch RCA in my bedroom) hooked to a conventional DirecTV receiver (not HD), that I can record with, but of course that means I can't record anything in HD...

If I had come into some money another year or two later, I would certainly have bought a plasma instead, but at the time I bought my RCA (October of 2001), plasmas were still very expensive, the least expensive I could find was more than twice the price of that RCA... and since I was set on building a total home entertainment center (Pioneer Elite equipment, their top of the line, with JBL Studio Series 5.1 speakers), I just didn't have the budget to go flat panel back then, so the RCA was the best compromise I could come up with...

Interesting, they have seperate DirectV and HD recievers built in, so that it can work without DirecTV, that would make more sense. Speaking of JBL recievers, I bought them, 7-8 years ago, before they became a big hit, for $199, the small 5.1. Man they work Awesome, as good as Bose speakers IMO.

RCA builts good TVs, although reputation wasn't such. I prefer Sony though, since mostly I have always bought their products.