HDTV Suggestions

[grawk]

Sony BDP-S570

This is the bluray player I have. It's pretty good, does sacd, and has analog outs, so your receiver doesn't have to support the whiz bang audio, it's in the bluray. It also has wireless and does netflix and amazon streaming. I've been pretty happy with it.

[emelius]

^^that's what I was going to suggest...apparently, it's amazeballs...

hi-fi world called the s370 the bargain of the century & the s570's basically the same player but with wi-fi capability...

[The Monkey]

Thinking about the Oppo BDP-93.

[n_maher]

Thinking about the Oppo BDP-93.

Why not a PS3?

[The Monkey]

Because that would incite spousal wrath. She would see it as an attempt to hook jack on video games.

Anyway, just grabbed a "like new" bdp-93 for 399 shipped.

[grawk]

That's awesome dinner

[recstar24]

Go oppo and never look back! Same here, ps3 would have incited wifey wrath. However she seems understand luxury bluray player for some reason.

[emelius]

dual hdmi out's a cool feature...can use an old, quality receiver & still do 3d...not that i condone this:)...

[tyrion]

I'm thinking of picking this up to use as a monitor in my music room and to use to watch movies and tv shows I download. Not sure if I will bother with a BR player.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=11600818&whse=BC&topnav=

The other option is to spend about another $80 and get the 1080p version. I guess it makes sense to pay the extra money so I have BR as an option.

[grawk]

You can still watch BR on a 720p set. Given the size, I don't think there'd be a difference, even.

[The Monkey]

Anyone want a 250lb CRT behemoth? Free! (you just need to come pick it up.)

[Dusty Chalk]

The other option is to spend about another $80 and get the 1080p version.

Dew et!

[tyrion]

Too late. I will buy beer with the $80 saved.

[Dusty Chalk]

At 6 or 7 feet away, you may not see the difference, you'll be alright. For 30 days or so.

[raffy]

Gang, I'm seriously in the market for a 55-inch plasma for my living room. I've been holding off for the longest time but I'm really fed up with having to move my couch forward everytime I want to play Xbox 360/PS3 since I only have a 37-inch set right now.

Any opinions here on the Panasonic GT30? I was waiting for the VT30 to come out but now that it has, I'm having second thoughts at it is around $1K more than the GT30. I figure I can either save the extra $ or spend it on a receiver and a wall mount. Also, I recall someone getting a ST30 here a few weeks ago - was that you Dinny? Thoughts?

Thanks!

[The Monkey]

I was really impressed by the 55ST30, even though I ended up with the 50". I'd think you'd be happy with the 55. Side-by-side, the 50GT30 looked just a bit better than the 50ST30, but when I bought, the ST30 was $300+ cheaper. All that said, the GT series is a physically nicer set. It's much thinner and looks better, although it has kind of a silver bezel that could be annoying. The GT is THX certified, whereas the ST is not. And I think the GT has one more HDMI port, in addition to some other bells and whistles. It's a nice TV; however it just wasn't worth the price premium to me. As that gap closes, it becomes a tossup.

Suggestion: head over to High Def Junkies, they have a ton of good info: http://www.highdefjunkies.com/showthread.php?9401-Official-Panasonic-GT30-Thread-Including-a-Review-and-Report

[raffy]

Thanks for the feedback Dinny; I've had the same basic observations as you (I briefly demoed it on Satuday); the GT is nicer physically and while it has that silver lining in the bezel, it didn't end up annoying me. I've been checking out HD Junkies as well - they seem to like the Panny plasmas overall.

[Spychedelic Whale]

+1 for Pannasonic, I bought a 50 G30 and I'm really happy with it.

At the store I compared with a few Samsungs, LGs and Philips and none of them had the natural image of the pannas. Some had really weird color tonnes and grainy image, specially samsung.

[The Monkey]

I liked the Samsungs I saw.

[recstar24]

I would personally spring for the thx and extra hdmi.

[grawk]

I would personally spring for the thx and extra hdmi.

and I wouldn't

[HeadphoneAddict]

Sony BDP-S570

This is the bluray player I have. It's pretty good, does sacd, and has analog outs, so your receiver doesn't have to support the whiz bang audio, it's in the bluray. It also has wireless and does netflix and amazon streaming. I've been pretty happy with it.

Nice! That's the same Bluray player that my wife and kids gave me last Xmas but I didn't know it did 3D. I just looked at it and it is definitely that model, and says 3D on the front sticker. We also have the PS3 in the basement theater, so now all we need are a couple of 3D TV's, someday...

The picture is nice on our 42" Sony HDTV, and it works well with Netflix over wifi. When we first set it up we couldn't add shows to the instant queue, but there's been a software update automatically installed not too long ago that added that and more to the Netflix player. We use digital audio out into our AVR, so I don't know if the analog output sounds good or not. Still pretty happy with it, and I think the wife only spent like $160 on it at Best Buy.

[The Monkey]

For some reason, I still like Sony products.

[Dusty Chalk]

Me, too. Especially picture, but not necessarily to the exclusion of other aspects of the product.

[The Monkey]

Now I need to figure out the audio. Floor standers are not going to cut it. I may need to go the soundbar route. Or maybe get an A/V receiver and do (small) 3.1 until I can get a man cave.