are you one those person who must have the latest electronic stuff?...

[Dancing Fire]

i'm thinking about buying a 50" plasma hdtv for 5k but, it kills me when i know that same size and newer model will be selling for 4k next yr.the best tv i ever bought (23 yrs ago) was a 13" Sony Trinitroni, that tv is still working like new but it needs to warm up for like 30 seconds before the picture comes on.

all Sony tv's were made in Japan back then.i don't like to chase these new electronic stuff.i'll go broke,learn that yrs ago.

heck,i didn't even buy a dvd player until about 18 months ago for $120,remember when they first came out? 1k

 

[Patty]

The t.v. that we watch all the time was bought in 1988 for $360. It''s a 25" Magnavox and it''s fine. We''ve gone through a lot of those little 13" t.v./vcr combos since then, though. The VCR part always breaks!

Hey, DF, I remember when you had to wait for t.v.s to warm up first! And you also had to get up and physically change the channel yourself. It made a loud "click" when you changed the channel. This, of course, was only done after you had walked your two miles home from school, uphill, in the snow, and then finished all your homework.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We gave up buying the lastest stuff after we had kids! Since my son was one years old, we''ve had to replace our DVD player every six months due to tampering

!

Our only acception is our computer! We have the newest everything, but I have no idea what this everything stuff is OR how to use it, so my husband is the one who enjoys these toys while I just click around with our wireless mouse and keyboard

 

[tanuki]

I''m considering buying a HDTV system early this year and I decided to wait longer before I buy one.

I looked at Plasma vs LCD and decided LCD would be preferable. A CRT with an HDTV tuner would be fine with me but they seem to have stopped making the larger ones now that the industry is pushing the large flat screen models.

The Plasma uses a LOT of energy to run and the screen may have a limited lifespan. The number of hours they last is sort of an unknown. If you have your TV on a lot it may only be a matter of less than three years for a Plasma screen to reach the end of it''s expected life span. That''s not much use for 5000 dollars.

The image of the Plasma is certainly impressive.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/6/2005 2:13:37 PM
Author: Patty
The t.v. that we watch all the time was bought in 1988 for $360. It's a 25' Magnavox and it's fine. We've gone through a lot of those little 13' t.v./vcr combos since then, though. The VCR part always breaks!

Hey, DF, I remember when you had to wait for t.v.s to warm up first! And you also had to get up and physically change the channel yourself. It made a loud 'click' when you changed the channel. This, of course, was only done after you had walked your two miles home from school, uphill, in the snow, and then finished all your homework.

Patty
i never buy anything eletronics with combo,always problems.when i was in first grade (1966) i live with my grandpa,he had a black & white RCA tv with remote control and every time you change the channel it makes that loud "click" sound. i still remember watching "the Andy Griffin show"

 

[ame]

Only when it is Cellphone related usually. And I try to keep up with Mac related stuff so I can upgrade my laptop/desktop within 3-4 years time.

 

[lost on 5th]

haha... good topic..

i have a good friend that has the "newest electronics bug" and he has it BAD. really a depressing state to be in if you are of limited cash flow because you will find yourself spending a LOT!!! ....and still being one behind.

personally, the only tech i really keep on top of is computers/software. this is more or less driven by efficiency than desire ...and is on the company tab. (i am in one of the few professions that demand the performance for a ~9k workstation. replaced annually)

DF if you are looking at TV''s still. you may consider saving some cash and getting a better tube tv. the picture quality on the sony XBR series tv''s will beat most anything within a 10k price range. **also note: superior HDTV performance will most likely require an external tuner.


......and if you are window shopping....hide your credit cards well. and then take a look here:bang-olufsen

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 4/6/2005 2:39:22 PM
Author: tanuki

I looked at Plasma vs LCD and decided LCD would be preferable.&

We have an LCD computer monitor and LOVE it. . .I''d be inclined to buy an LCD tv as well IF I didn''t have kids. We''re trying to keep TV watching to a minimum so our kids learn to DO things aside from staring blankly

 

[mightyred]

We have a 50" Widescreen LCD HDTV with DLP.....we looked at plasmas but for a difference in price of $3000 we decided we couldn't justify it. The widescreen is actually not that much bigger (depth wise) so unless you are planning on mounting your plasma to a wall to save some space I wouldn't bother. I think all these home makeover shows have done wonders for plasma sales!

Since we got the HDTV we did progress to Tivo and he upgraded his xbox to the wireless live system so I guess it had a knock on effect

. I tivo things and forget what I tivo'd so probably spend less time watching the box which suits him since he is addicted to Halo 2 live! I must admit it looks superb on the big screen.

We are pretty techie when it comes to our computer and laptops and we both have ipods which we sync to the pc which has great speakers so we sold our bulky stereo system. We use the xbox for dvd's and have a $20 dvd Target special in the spare room which I made region changeable so I can have British dvd's sent over to watch in the US.

Sounds like we are slaves to gadgets but now we have things set up to how we want them I doubt we will need much for a few years.

If you do get the 50" get used to people saying 'can you get a bigger tv next time?"

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/6/2005 3:39:27 PM
Author: lost on 5th



DF if you are looking at TV''s still. you may consider saving some cash and getting a better tube tv. the picture quality on the sony XBR series tv''s will beat most anything within a 10k price range. **also note: superior HDTV performance will most likely require an external tuner.


......and if you are window shopping....hide your credit cards well. and then take a look here:bang-olufsen

if those Sony XBR are still made in Japan,then it would be a good product.

 

[jaysonsmom]

You guys must be talking about my husband. We have a 57" HDTV and every electronic device you can imagine. DH''s latest purchases included a 21" LCD Monitor, cordless keyboard and mouse, bluetooth hands-free earpiece for his cell phone. all this within the last 2 weeks. His company said that they''ll be issuing blackberries within the next couple months too....
He rarely leaves home without his iPac, cell phone, navigation system, Text pager, new bluetooth thingy.....he''s like a walking lightning rod.

I''m sort of glad that he is such an electronic''s freak, because it justifies all my jewlery purchases.

 

[lost on 5th]

Date: 4/6/2005 7:59:30 PM
Author: jaysonsmom

I''m sort of glad that he is such an electronic''s freak, because it justifies all my jewlery purchases.

hahaha too funny

 

[hoorray]

LOL Patty about having to get up to change the channel. I was there then

.

I'm married to a gadget hound. He buys them, and I get to enjoy them (or at least most of them). We have the entertainment center with the HDTV, the surround sound, etc. We have replaced all of our music players for the IPOD, which plugs into the whole sound system. (we had an early generation MP3 player before that). Even I, the skeptic, have to admit, it's pretty cool. We randomize the music and play it all day long, all over the house and the yard. He hasn't been seriously bitten by the plasma/LCD TV bug, and I feel lucky about that.

Now we are going through the "I have to have the latest Mac" stage. He just ordered the all in one, super duper wide screen, does everything, never needs to be upgraded or replaced (yeah right!) Mac, to replace his other 3 computers. I just plug along with my same ol' one, and am happy with it.

For Christmas, I got the IPOD mobile speaker system. hmmm... I don't own an IPOD. To make it up, for my birthday, I got sparkles! not a bad thing.....

 

[sparklelover]

Funny

!!

My husband has mellowed down quite a bit since our daughter was born two years ago. He is such a devoted daddy that his priority now is spending time with her. But he still manages to get the latest PDA, digital camera each time. He builds our desktops (two for him and one for me) and server at home and upgrades the components periodically. None of us work from home. Last Christmas, he bought 3 laptops from dell.com and claimed the 3rd one was for me since he spent so much on the first two and he couldn''t pass the deep discount he had earned to buy the 3rd one! I am glad he''s done with our home theater system. We hardly watch TV (a little PBS cartoon for the little one and "Desperate Housewives" for me). He does not see the need to update the system that he installed 3 years ago. Thank Goodness I talked him out of getting the Bose surround system when he put together the home theater! He got Sony instead and saved 5K. He did add a DVD recorder (my layman''s term) to record my favorite show or burn the DVD we think it worth keeping a copy, as he could not stand it when I ask him to "tape my show on VHS"

.

For all his special occasions, he just buys software, gadgets, etc by himself because that makes him happy and saves me the trouble of finding him the perfect gift each time. But I have to say, he is very modest in this pursuits compare to some of his peers. So I don''t complain at all.

 

[codex57]

Date: 4/6/2005 5:14

6 PM
Author: mightyred
We have a 50'' Widescreen LCD HDTV with DLP.....we looked at plasmas but for a difference in price of $3000 we decided we couldn''t justify it. The widescreen is actually not that much bigger (depth wise) so unless you are planning on mounting your plasma to a wall to save some space I wouldn''t bother. I think all these home makeover shows have done wonders for plasma sales!

How do you have a LCD tv with DLP? That''s two competing technologies, kinda like saying you have a LCD CRT computer monitor. Which company is it from? You can have an LCD tv, a rear projection LCD tv, or a rear projection DLP tv. We have a 50 inch DLP from Samsung that''s HDTV ready.

But yeah, I agree, the cost is too much for the plasmas. Just couldn''t justify it. Didn''t need to hang it on the wall and the DLP''s picture was plenty impressive. Sure the plasma''s picture quality looked a lot better, but we don''t watch enough HDTV things (DVD''s aren''t HDTV quality) to have justified the plasma''s cost.

 

[mightyred]

Date: 4/7/2005 2:40:38 PM
Author: codex57

Date: 4/6/2005 5:14

6 PM
Author: mightyred
We have a 50' Widescreen LCD HDTV with DLP.....we looked at plasmas but for a difference in price of $3000 we decided we couldn't justify it. The widescreen is actually not that much bigger (depth wise) so unless you are planning on mounting your plasma to a wall to save some space I wouldn't bother. I think all these home makeover shows have done wonders for plasma sales!

How do you have a LCD tv with DLP? That's two competing technologies, kinda like saying you have a LCD CRT computer monitor. Which company is it from? You can have an LCD tv, a rear projection LCD tv, or a rear projection DLP tv. We have a 50 inch DLP from Samsung that's HDTV ready.

But yeah, I agree, the cost is too much for the plasmas. Just couldn't justify it. Didn't need to hang it on the wall and the DLP's picture was plenty impressive. Sure the plasma's picture quality looked a lot better, but we don't watch enough HDTV things (DVD's aren't HDTV quality) to have justified the plasma's cost.

Codex57 - 'im indoors is the guru so if I quoted it wrong then apologies,ignore the LCD - I just make use of the technology and don't analyze it too much. I helped pay the credit card bill when it came in and it's worth it!

 

[codex57]

Ahh, ok. So you have the DLP. No biggie. My fiancee has no idea what we have either, she just watches it. It was her idea to get the big tv tho, she just made me do all the research into it.

 

[Judi W]

My son is a computer engineer and a total junkie for everything and anything electronic! He is totally consumed with each new toy he acquires and has always been that way - ever since he was a child! The first sign should have been obvious -- he was always facinated with puzzles as a little boy. Now as grown up "child" he has taken it to a new level! His favorite place on earth is "Best Buy" ! Of course....I shouldn''t really criticize, after all I have my obsessions as well.....like shoes....and shoes....and shoes......(got the picture!?)

 

[fountainfairfax]

I know it sounds sad on this thread but I''m so excited because I just got my first MP3 player and it is so much fun...all the ''kids" here at work are laughing at how happy I am! I didn''t even go with large memory or special features- all I wanted was something skip-free, small & good for gym workouts...I ended up with the iRiver-512mb (mainly because it was an incentive gift from my company, just a little thank you) and I played around with it all last night- it''s going to be perfect for what I need but i do have to upgrade the headphones- those little things are never gonna stay in my big ears

sorry to highjack the thread w/my silly little purchase.....