Direct TV

[Monte Smith]

OK, so with the new house on a new coast, I went with the satellite dish. I find it intriguing that the one requisite to receive the services of Direct TV is an unobstructed view of the Southern sky. Neat!

So what am I watching this very minute? Cop Rock! No lie. The Steven Bochko police drama/musical flop of a series from 1990. It's terrible. Theme song by Randy Newman. This could be the low point of human narrative endeavor.

[jesus marion joseph]

Sunday NFL Ticket rocks!!

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

OK, so with the new house on a new coast, I went with the satellite dish.

Do you have a widescreen TV with a HD receiver and an antenna for OTA HD broadcasts? Monte, you've gotta go the whole nine yards to truly enjoy your Directv.

Meanwhile, my HD Tivo, after much delay is supposedly being shipped next week. It will arrive while I'm in China. Oh well, something to look forward to playing with upon my return.

[SinginSumo]

Gordon, do you also have SACD/DVD-A capability and 5.1 speaker set-up?

[jesus marion joseph]

Can your TV make a double half-caf cappucino with a back flip?

[GoodSpeak]

When did you move from Washington, Monte?


Geez.


I must be slippin'...

Eh, DirectTV is alright, I suppose.

When I lived outside Tampa I could buy the local stations package. Life was grand. But when I moved here they didn't offer the local channels at all.

Unforgivable.

So I enjoy my Mediacom cable tv. Picture isn't as nice, but who cares? Like I watch a bunch of tv anyway? I just use it for my super sweet 3mb highspeed internet connection.

Lets see your fancy dish do that!!!

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by SinginSumo

Gordon, do you also have SACD/DVD-A capability and 5.1 speaker set-up?

Sumo,
I have a 5.1 set-up but no on the other. The TV is in the family room. My music listening system is in the basement. I have a two-channel SACD player in the basement.

Shrugs, if you are reading this, you'd be interested to know that I know have the Music Hall Maverick SACD player. I'm going to sell my Sony 777-ES on Audiogon when I get back from vacation.

I'd rather spend my money on a very good two-channel audio system than dilute it on surround sound. Another consideration is that my basement room really isn't big enough for five speakers. If I made the family room my main listening room, I would have to keep the volume low if I didn't want to disturb the rest of my family.

[clinthopson]

We have DISH with 150+channels, premium movie channels and all the bs&ws.

Occasionally, very occasionally, we will actually find something worth watching besides baseball games and Sopranos.

Originally Posted by clinthopson

We have DISH with 150+channels, premium movie channels and all the bs&ws.

Occasionally, very occasionally, we will actually find something worth watching besides baseball games and Sopranos.

Yeah see, thats the whole thing. You have 2 million channels of digital bliss, but there still isn't jack shit worth watching.

[Chris D]

We have considered getting a dish, but the lack of PBS Kids on even the expanded selections -- you have to get the megapackage to receive it -- has us sticking to cable, where we can get PBS Kids around the clock.

[Enforcer]

Chris,

In lieu of "PBS Kids," I'd be willing to offer you "Our Kids," around the clock. They're noisy and demanding, but it might free you up to go with the Direct TV. Just let me know if you're interested and I'll spring for the cost of the airline tickets.

Generous as long as you don't look too closely,
Larry

Originally Posted by Chris D

We have considered getting a dish, but the lack of PBS Kids on even the expanded selections -- you have to get the megapackage to receive it -- has us sticking to cable, where we can get PBS Kids around the clock.

PBS Kids is whack. Disney Channel is the bomb, G.

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by Chris D

We have considered getting a dish, but the lack of PBS Kids on even the expanded selections -- you have to get the megapackage to receive it -- has us sticking to cable, where we can get PBS Kids around the clock.

Chris: I have basic, no-frills Direct TV and we get PBS Kids. I have it on right now.

Gordon: widescreen TV and gizmos? Not me. I have a $150 TV. GE, baby.

[Chris D]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

Chris: I have basic, no-frills Direct TV and we get PBS Kids. I have it on right now.

They must have changed the packages since I last checked. Thanks for that info, Monte.

[Monte Smith]

Actually, funny anecdote here. When we were buying this house, the previous occupant had a huge flat screen. This thing was enormous. I turned it on just to see what the picture was like and MSNBC's Hardball came on. Chris Matthew's head should never be that large! Scary. Anyway, the owner was going to trade up to an even bigger TV and offered to sell me the one that was in the house. He wanted $2000 dollars for it.

So I'm at the office of my mortgage broker, and I tell my wife about the offer the owner made. She's like, "It really is a nice TV. But how old is it? If we wanted something that big, which do we?, we could probably find a brand new one at that price or cheaper at Costco." My wife is so sensible. I said, "Yes, you're right. Besides, I don't think we really need a $2000 TV."

Rob, my mortgage broker, doesn't even lift his eyes from his computer terminal and chimes in, "Everyone needs a $2000 TV."

Yuk yuk.

Goody: I left Seattle in April.

[Enforcer]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

The room has very high ceilings

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

Chris Matthew's head should never be that large!

That right there should be enough to kill the big-screen market.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Go to your local shop and compare but make sure you look at the Sony Grand Wega LCD projection sets. The cheapest model is the KDF-42WE655, with a list price of $2499. You should be able get it cheaper. Nice picture. Built-in HD tuner if you live in an area where you can receive them over-the-air. Here's a picture:


Later,
Kevin

[LennyH]

I have the Sony Grand Wega LCD, Kevin. But I bought mine over a year ago, before the tuner was included. My wife thought I was nuts buying a $2,400 TV. She hasn't complained once since the day she saw it. We're still in love with this TV.

Anyone shopping for a TV in this price range should also check out the Samsung DLPs. It really comes down to preference.

[jesus marion joseph]

My advice: listen to Bresnahan's opinions on gadgetry. I am enjoying the heck out of my 40" XBR set that he recommended.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Originally Posted by LennyH

I have the Sony Grand Wega LCD, Kevin. But I bought mine over a year ago, before the tuner was included. My wife thought I was nuts buying a $2,400 TV. She hasn't complained once since the day she saw it. We're still in love with this TV.

Anyone shopping for a TV in this price range should also check out the Samsung DLPs. It really comes down to preference.

People are still complaining about audio synchronization problems with the Samsung DLP projection sets. That stopped me from considering them in the past and given it's still happening, it'd stop me from considering them today... even though the picture is stunning and some people are not having problems. With my luck, I'd have problems.

FYI, the way this has been explained to me is that the DLP technology requires sophisticated timing between micro-mirrors that turn the "light" on & off and a mini color-wheel that changes that light between red, green & blue. This color wheel has to spin to the right color and have the light delivered (or not) by flipping the mirror in microseconds. There are thousands of these written across the screen to make your "picture" and it has to happen during every screen refresh. It's a lot of number crunching and the processor that makes all this happen "slows" down the video a bit. Supposedly with some sources, especially HDTV or dense progressive-scan DVDs, the audio gets out of the speakers before the video gets written to the screen.

Later,
Kevin

[Tanager]

Re: PBS, we had to purchase the "locals" package to get it on DishNetwork. The reason we went w/Dish instead of DirectTV is the range of international programming (we get at least two Hindi channels all the time, and when the inlaws come we sometimes up that for the period they're here).