Interesting Home Theatre Experience...

[Leon]

Well, here's the story. I had just wasted my time standing outside Best Buy's for an hour, and I didn't get a PS2. Oh well... Might as well go run some errands. I finish the run, and I see the local Big Screen City (which I have never been into). Curious, I go look.

I ask to see if I could tell the difference between regular and progressive scan DVD players on an HDTV. He does a demo, and I saw no difference whatsoever. I think he didn't really know what he was doing. So I ask him if he carried Toshibas, and this was his answer:

"Mitsubishis and Toshibas are both made by the same company. Funai. They are crap. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. Pioneers make the best players."

I then said, "Even the Toshiba SD-9200?" (which is a $1,499 player!)

He said yes and then proceeded to recommend the Pioneer 434, which we all know isn't true progressive. I said that I would wait for the new Pioneers to come in and I got the hell out of there.


Now, I like Toshibas and I don't think they are crap. What do you all think of this?

[sbp]

I don't think Mitsubishis and Toshibas are both made by the same company. http://www.funai-corp.com/ The salesman was an idiot and was trying to push the pioneer on you.

[att]

i think my toshiba rocks, that guy was full of it. you ought to post the name of the store and their phone number or something so we can screw with them. there's no excuse for that kind of salesmanship

[pennypinch]

Jeez, you should have lpmillered his ass, Leon. :)

And so it was done, that the GotApex board created a new verb...

[Leon]

Heh... I figured as much. So anyway, I'm thinking of a 36XBR400 and a Toshiba SD5109... I was at Fry's and, man, do they look good.

[Apex]

Bah, go with the SD6200 instead.

[pennypinch]

Originally posted by Leon
Heh... I figured as much. So anyway, I'm thinking of a 36XBR400 and a Toshiba SD5109... I was at Fry's and, man, do they look good.
First of all, what the F are you doing at Fry's? :)
Second, man, are you going to need a lot of cash!

[Leon]

Originally posted by pennypinch

Originally posted by Leon
Heh... I figured as much. So anyway, I'm thinking of a 36XBR400 and a Toshiba SD5109... I was at Fry's and, man, do they look good.
First of all, what the F are you doing at Fry's? :)
Second, man, are you going to need a lot of cash!

Hey, Fry's is America's best buy-it, try-it, return-it superstore.

[pennypinch]

Originally posted by Leon

Originally posted by pennypinch

Originally posted by Leon
Heh... I figured as much. So anyway, I'm thinking of a 36XBR400 and a Toshiba SD5109... I was at Fry's and, man, do they look good.
First of all, what the F are you doing at Fry's? :)
Second, man, are you going to need a lot of cash!

Hey, Fry's is America's best buy-it, try-it, return-it superstore.

So long as you can suffer the idiots during the return-it phase...;)

[ArkiStan]

Hey can somebody explain the definition of "progressive scan? and what it's about?

[Leon]

It basically means non-interlaced.

[hapoo]

Originally posted by ucbstan
Hey can somebody explain the definition of "progressive scan? and what it's about?

for example if your resolution is 640 by 480 in interlaced mode (not progressive) the monitor would once go and display every even line (240 lines) and then go through and display every odd line (240 lines) giving you a total of 480 lines. In progressive scan it goes through and displays every line every single time giving you a smoother picture without all the flicker.

[ArkiStan]

so does your TV need to support this too, or just your DVD player?



while I'm posting I might as well ask some other random questions I've had....sorry Leon. Forgive me for going off topic in your thread. :kiss:

1. when receivers have "universal remotes" that can control the DVD players, does the DVD player have to be from the same company?

2. what 5 speaker set (for Dolby Digital 5.1) would you recommend for around $300?

[Nanotech9]

not exactly what kind of speakers your looking for, but these may interest you:

http://buy.creative.com/product.asp?sku=1008937

and just in case your wondering, yes, I work for them, but don't get any profit from you buying anything from them.

[IrishSS]

I have those speakers, but I use them for my PC, not my home theater. I kinda think they are a little under-powered for a home theater setup. Sony has a small 6 piece system, http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/home/homeaudio/speakers/sav-e315.shtml, that you can get for around $250 new, and I picked one up off Ebay for $100, and use the surround, center and sub out of it, along with two bigger speakers for my front main.

[LPMiller]

1)lpmillered his ass...now THATS funny!
2) Mit and Toshiba are not the same company at all. Mit has one of the highest reliability ratings for both it's TV's and its electronics.
2.5) It's cars, on the other hand...
3)Toshiba's do not rank near as well, which is why best buy carries them ;). Still, they do make good stuff, but mostly on the higher end...their big screens have high failure rates, but they make good drives.
4) Pioneer's players usually use a Toshibia based drive. Most players do, in fact. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone, except maybe Hughes? Sony? that use their own drives. I don't want to say everyone does...but I think everyone does...anyone know the answer to that?
5) I'm not sure you would have seen a difference on an HDTV, since most of them are progressive scan, with a minimum of 480i...hard to say. Of course, the picture inside most of those stores sucks - looks much better at home, less interference.
6)Pioneer makes good stuff too, but this guy was an idiot.

[hapoo]

Originally posted by ucbstan
so does your TV need to support this too, or just your DVD player?



while I'm posting I might as well ask some other random questions I've had....sorry Leon. Forgive me for going off topic in your thread. :kiss:

1. when receivers have "universal remotes" that can control the DVD players, does the DVD player have to be from the same company?

2. what 5 speaker set (for Dolby Digital 5.1) would you recommend for around $300?


Yes your tv does have to support it, normal TV's are all interlaced.


1. no they do not have to be from the same company. universal remotes are universal, they work with every brand

2. can't help you there

[Leon]

Originally posted by ucbstan
2. what 5 speaker set (for Dolby Digital 5.1) would you recommend for around $300?

Do you have a Toshiba SD6109? You said you had a DVD/receiver type thing going. So you just need 5 speakers and a sub?

Perhaps something like this:
KLH 6 Piece System (http://www.mercata.com/cgi-bin/mercata/mercata/v2/pages/details.jsp?sourceid=00200393681541219454&OID=16436)

With the 20%, it should be more than affordable. Don't expect it to perform like THX speakers, though. :heh:

[ArkiStan]

Thanks for the info Leon. Actually I wasn't the one who had the DVD/Receiver-in-one thing. I have a seperate DD receiver. And I already have two decent main speakers, so I was thinking more of the 3piece Cambridge soundworks Ensemble IV (Sub+2surround) package for sale at $119. And getting a center seperately. But the KLH bundle looks really good to me. I always wondered is KLH a pretty good brand for speakers? I always get confused between JBL and KLH. ....yeah that KLH bundle at Mercata looks like a really good deal. Would you recommend KLH for quality?


(just FYI - I live in a very small apartment with thin walls and a lot of neighbors so I can never turn the sound up high anyways. I don't need a lot of output. Just clean, accurate sound.)


[Edited by ucbstan on 10-29-2000 at 12:57 AM]

[ArkiStan]

*bump* in case you missed it the reply above this. So Leon what your opinion on KLH?

[Leon]

Originally posted by ucbstan
Thanks for the info Leon. Actually I wasn't the one who had the DVD/Receiver-in-one thing. I have a seperate DD receiver. And I already have two decent main speakers, so I was thinking more of the 3piece Cambridge soundworks Ensemble IV (Sub+2surround) package for sale at $119. And getting a center seperately. But the KLH bundle looks really good to me. I always wondered is KLH a pretty good brand for speakers? I always get confused between JBL and KLH. ....yeah that KLH bundle at Mercata looks like a really good deal. Would you recommend KLH for quality?


(just FYI - I live in a very small apartment with thin walls and a lot of neighbors so I can never turn the sound up high anyways. I don't need a lot of output. Just clean, accurate sound.)


[Edited by ucbstan on 10-29-2000 at 12:57 AM]

Hmm... Well, here's the thing, at the very least, you should try to get the same brand/set for the Front and Center speakers. That way the sound reproduction is more accurate.

KLH isn't great, but it's affordable. I should do it's job for your place, but they are probably the Hyundai of speakers.

With a $300 budget, you can't really do much unless you try to get a discount on the Energy Take 5 system. I think those retail for $500, but you can probably try to get an open box sale at a shop or buy it used.