insight on new entertainment center

[Gleb]

in the past, you guys and gals have been a great help in making expensive purchases. We just moved into a new apartment and I want to hook my room up with a nice tv and speaker system as well as a ps3. I will be applying for a 3 year no interest card at best buy. I've read through plenty of reviews on cnet to confuse myself on what to get.

my criteria for the tv is:

1. around 42'' lcd

2. $1200 max

3. 2 or more hdmi ports

4. 1080p

5. has to be at best buy

for the speakers, I just want something that won't blow the walls down for under $250, and that you're able to turn the bass all the way down.

Thanks for your help.

[spil]

Westinghouse 42" LCD

Plus it comes with a free chair!

Here are some speakers.

[tex1230]

if you can break yourself away from the LCD requirement, I bought this a few months ago (that's the best buy link - check circuit city for the same thing $300 cheaper, or negotiate with best buy.

Great tv, Takes about the same space as a lcd flat panel for half the price.

[cail]

take a look at samsung... if you want to spend less than 2000 consider a 1080i tv. the ps3 supports 1080p upscaling... but how good it is i dont know. tv broadcasts aren't in 1080p and probably wont be for awhile. i'd say just go with a 1080i... and upgrade to 1080p in the future when it's worthwhile.

some reading material

[cail]

if you can break yourself away from the LCD requirement, I bought this a few months ago (that's the best buy link - check circuit city for the same thing $300 cheaper, or negotiate with best buy.

Great tv, Takes about the same space as a lcd flat panel for half the price.

very nice

[Fleaman]

save your money and keep what you have, once you get into the credit circle, sometimes it is hard to get out.... sure it sounds sweet now to get all the cool stuff, but when it comes time to pay, watch out, the payments will be a real pain in the ass . Then you get more stuff, then more etc, pretty soon you will be using cards to pay off other cards.

[xxguitarist]

save your money and keep what you have, once you get into the credit circle, sometimes it is hard to get out.... sure it sounds sweet now to get all the cool stuff, but when it comes time to pay, watch out, the payments will be a real pain in the ass . Then you get more stuff, then more etc, pretty soon you will be using cards to pay off other cards.

the mention of the credit card worried me too, but i was going to bite my tongue..

not saying anything against you gleb, just use some caution

[bobdea]

you could have a WCR metal

or ****load of skatedecks OR a couple ladies of easy leisure, whatever it is the pleasure that you seek there are better things you could do with your money.

I have a 60 gb PS3 and a bunch of games here if anyone wants it let me know before it goes on ebay.

[Buell]

save your money and keep what you have, once you get into the credit circle, sometimes it is hard to get out.... sure it sounds sweet now to get all the cool stuff, but when it comes time to pay, watch out, the payments will be a real pain in the ass . Then you get more stuff, then more etc, pretty soon you will be using cards to pay off other cards.

I am with xxguitarist and Fleaman on this one. It might not be the deal you think it is, if you do not have the cash to back it up.

[willywhit]

glebster,

check out http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=6617&highlight=theater

I ended up with a Hitachi 55HDS69

and just got some Philips HTS3555/37

http://reviews.cnet.com/home-theater-in-a/philips-hts3555-home-theater/4505-6740_7-32384548.html at Best Buy last week (which are wimpy and cheap but we can't crank the speakers in the new place).

[7stg]

I would wait till you have the money.

A best buy card will negatively impact your credit score under the following categories:

Types of Credit Used 10% (best buy is not favorable here)

New credit 10%

Average length of credit history 15%

Amount owed 30%

(a. Percents listed are total for each category not direct impact from the best buy card b. Each credit agencies weight given to each category does very slightly from my myficos given percentages). This will negatively impact your insurance rates among other things.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/<o></o><u1></u1><o></o>

[cail]

I would wait till you have the money.

A best buy card will negatively impact your credit score under the following categories:

Types of Credit Used 10% (best buy is not favorable here)

New credit 10%

Average length of credit history 15%

Amount owed 30%

(a. Percents listed are total for each category not direct impact from the best buy card b. Each credit agencies weight given to each category does very slightly from my myficos given percentages). This will negatively impact your insurance rates among other things.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/<o></o><u1></u1><o></o>

good to know!

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've been looking at some of the same stuff, and I keep getting drawn to the Sharp stuff. Their 42" LCD is around $1500 in the US, I believe.

[Gleb]

wow thanks for all the input.

spil, I think that the tv and chair deal is for online only and the 3 year no interest is for instore only. when I'm done with classes for the day, I'll be looking into it more. That chair is sweet though.

tex, I think i'm going to be sticking with an lcd because I'm weary with anything with a bulb.

cail, thanks for that link, and info, i'll be reading it throughly tonight.

Fleaman, xxguitarist and Buell, I'm decently good with my money. I fill my Jewish stereotype well :) . I plan to only buy this and then pretty much throw the card out. I also need to start building my credit up, and this seems like a good place to start.

bob, I'll be still getting my Prior, no worries there. If i spend $2,500 on this set up, my payments will be like $70/month. I'll be calling you bout the ps3.

willy, I remember that thread. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on some of the new stuff that came out since then.

7stg, thats a nice website. I'm still confused how it would negativly impact me even though i'll be making the payments. I don't the amount owed will make much of a difference since by the end of this year i'll have $75K in student loans. Are student loans counted in on this?

Neil, I'm with you on Sharp having good stuff. Westinghouse also has some sweet stuff.

off to class i go

[Neil Gendzwill]

Just be aware that although Sharp is often quoted as being among the best LCD in terms of picture quality, you can sometimes get trouble with banding, depending on which plant and what batch. You might have to do some returning. There's several threads here which discuss the issues.

[Mike T]

... one thing many students neglect to do is to think about how consumer debt is going to affect them once they get *out* of school. Unless you know what your income is going to be, what your rent is going to be, and how much you're going to spend on everything else once you get out, leave yourself some margin for error. Don't make yourself have to choose between maintaining your credit rating and having a life after school. You probably cannot predict your income an expenses after school with a high enough degree of accuracy right now to know if you can afford to buy an entertainment system now and pay it off over the next 3 years. And you probably will need more money for day to day expenses than you think when you are no longer a student.

I speak from experience. Even an MIT education didn't arm me to predict my expenses upon graduation. (Then again I didn't know I'd be living in working in NYC until a few days before graduation!)

There's nothing wrong with building your credit rating by getting a credit card, using it to charge normal expenses, and paying it off in full every month.

[Blue Bird]

Cash for toys and luxuries

Credit for items that bring in money

my lesson is about a year from ending, it took way to many years to get to this point. And I was less than $20K in debt, which is not much in the grand scheme

[Gleb]

I'm in school for 4 more years since i'm in a 6 year program. For the most part, I can predict my income since most pharmacist earn the same when they graduate. I just have to get through school. I don't plan to have any debt other than student loans when I'm out.

Only thing I have to becareful of is the 25%+ compounded interest i would get hit with if I didn't pay it all off in 3 years. I plan to have it completly covered by next summer.

[Gleb]

anyone know anything about the Vizio L42 HDTV?

link: http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/188805/catOid/-12867/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I preffer best buy's plan with the 3 years no interest so the westinghouse 42'' looks more favorable.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've heard there's lots of trouble with them.

Found another forum that has even more info: see here, especially the Sharp Aquos owner's thread - more info on banding and other crap than you ever wanted to know.

[kjl]

Any reason you are not looking at plasma? I was not impressed when I went looking for TVs a while back with the black levels or limited view angle (especially up and down) of LCDs. And the burn in problems with plasma seem to have been eliminated years ago to the point where I don't worry about it at all with my TV.

take a look at samsung... if you want to spend less than 2000 consider a 1080i tv. the ps3 supports 1080p upscaling... but how good it is i dont know. tv broadcasts aren't in 1080p and probably wont be for awhile. i'd say just go with a 1080i... and upgrade to 1080p in the future when it's worthwhile.

If I understand right all the LCDs and plasmas are progressive (either 720p or 1080p) and would deinterlace any 1080i input internally, but that whole thing is confusing to me; I could be completely mistaken. The ps3 will upscale DVDs to 1080p (or 720p) very nicely, and also outputs Blu-Ray (and games) at native 1080p. I believe the general consensus is that the ps3 is essentially the best "value for your money" Blu-Ray player you can currently buy (and from personal experience, Blu-Ray off a ps3 on a 1080p plasma monitor is a beautiful, beautiful thing. It looks amazing.).

Personally I would go 1080p right now if you are at all a movie lover or game lover (the current gen game players are 1080 - xbox360 and ps3), and HD DVD and Blu Ray, whichever one wins, are both essentially 1080 resolution formats. Then again, a lot of people think 720 is just as good as 1080 on a 42" TV, which may be the case (1080 is significantly, obviously better than 720 on a 50" display, however).

[Neil Gendzwill]

The burn-in problems with plasma are lessened but they are still there. If you plan to watch a lot of 4:3 TV and like me can't stand to watch in any stretch mode, plasma is a bad choice.

BTW Gleb I notice you've got a $1200 limit on your TV - I'm not aware of any decent 1080p TVs in that price range. At 42" you don't need 1080p anyways, and almost any source is 1080i. There's a few charts around that show the relationship between screen size, resolution and viewing distance when it comes to perceiving resolution. IIRC you can't tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i until you're about 2 feet way on a 42" screen. You can save some bucks by lowering your standards.

BTW all this information is coming from me doing my own research, as I haven't bought anything yet. But soon, soon.... moowahaha. Well, OK, as soon as I have managerial approval.

[7stg]

I cant find the classification name right now but the best by card and cards like it are in a different class than a visa card. Also you would have a very high revolving balance which is bad.

If you are looking to build your credit I would recommend a gas card that is not attached to a visa or master card. These cards are looked upon favorably, easy to get, hard to run up at least before gas was $3/gal, you would be making regular charges, and regularly paying the card off. After that get a visa or mastercard. I do not like discover or American express because they charge a higher fee to merchants. You can also looking at keeping $500-$1000 in a savings account.

Student loans are looked upon favorably as long as payments are made regularly however a large outstanding balance will affect your score and the amount of money a bank will lend you.

[kjl]

I watch a lot of 4:3 TV without stretch on my plasma and it (so far) seems to be a nonissue. I'm sure it also depends on the particular model of TV you get, however; I got a pretty high end monitor, so the (lack of) burnin on it may be atypical compared to a $1200 plasma. Also, a lot of regular "4:3 TV" programming is actually slightly letterboxed now as well, so you end up switching between various zoom modes anyways (if you're obsessively anal about filling the screen up like I am).

[cail]

If I understand right all the LCDs and plasmas are progressive (either 720p or 1080p) and would deinterlace any 1080i input internally, but that whole thing is confusing to me; I could be completely mistaken. The ps3 will upscale DVDs to 1080p (or 720p) very nicely, and also outputs Blu-Ray (and games) at native 1080p. I believe the general consensus is that the ps3 is essentially the best "value for your money" Blu-Ray player you can currently buy (and from personal experience, Blu-Ray off a ps3 on a 1080p plasma monitor is a beautiful, beautiful thing. It looks amazing.).

Personally I would go 1080p right now if you are at all a movie lover or game lover (the current gen game players are 1080 - xbox360 and ps3), and HD DVD and Blu Ray, whichever one wins, are both essentially 1080 resolution formats. Then again, a lot of people think 720 is just as good as 1080 on a 42" TV, which may be the case (1080 is significantly, obviously better than 720 on a 50" display, however).

You're right, they're all progressive scan. I don't think it's a bad idea to get a 1080p tv...unless you're worried about price (like me).

Some things actually look better in 720p, including some movies and games... I think sports capture the essence of HD the best.

Anyway this is a large debate that won't be settled in here I'm sure :D

By the way Gleb, you might consider a lower resolution TV and getting a video processor. The only problem is they're pricey (probably more than your tv). But then you could go with something like a 1080i or 720p tv (maybe a 720 rear projection to save a lot of money) for now and upgrade to 1080p later. i seriously doubt you'll regret it. guaranteed, video processors have better conversion algorithms than your off the shelf tv or HDdvd/Blu-Ray player.

try and win this! (has great reviews from what i've seen)