Kicking and screaming I finally dragged myself into an electronics retail establishment to seriously look for and buy my first new technology TV. It's not that I am opposed to new technology, far from it. I am opposed to spending over a grand on a TV! But, my waiting game came to a quick end with the impending death of my 15 year-old trusty 27" TV which still looked great, with great color, contrast and brightness. It would just occasionally go out with a bright white line down the middle of the screen or just have no picture for a while then come back on. It is repairable, I know since I had that fixed 4 years ago at the cost of $300. So that was that since you can buy a new TV of the same type for the same amount of money. But I decided if I am buying a new TV that should last me a decade or more, I had to buy one with the latest technology available.
I have done some research and had an idea what I wanted. My list included an ATSC tuner, QAM decoding and a screen size about the same height as the set I was replacing. It is a BEDROOM TV I kept on telling myself. The gadget freak in me wanted all the toys, but my wallet kept on biting my butt telling me "Keep it under a kilo-buck, moron!"
I looked at the wall of TV sets at this retailer and there were dozens and dozens of great looking pictures on TV sets ranging in price from way, way too much to just about right but still too much money. I eventually started hovering around one group of TV sets long enough so that a salesman finally approached me asking if I had any questions.
So here we go...how did I do on the salesman lottery. I never let on what I know and told him what I was looking for. Alarm bell #1: When I asked for a TV that has QAM decoding, his answer was, "They all have that." I asked three times if he was sure about that. He never became indignant, but was insistant that "they all have it". We talk about many of the other features on the TVs and the more he talks, the more I am certain that, though a very nice person, this man had no clue what he was saying. He did know his specs and knew what input capabilities each set had. But when he finally said that hooking up cable to the TV would NEVER give you a true digital picture, he showed me how little he understood the subject.
So knowing this man was uninformed and unintentionally attempting to mislead me, I finally settled down on a Samsung he INSISTED had QAM decoding. I was somewhat familiar with the model and remembered it did not say if it had QAM or not. But I bought the Samsung 3251 which was $1159 - $150 "coupon sale" so just about the kilobuck mark. Perfect.
I took the TV home and quickly put it together and removed my old failing 27" TV. I hooked up the lifeline cable which has 4 or 5 local channels in HD as well as a half-dozen other digital and HD channels in the clear (meaning a QAM decoder can get the channels no problem), the antenna, and Dish. I turned on the TV and WOW! great pictures. I was fiddling around with the antenna for a while and finally got it so it would get me all the Cincinnati digital local channels and some of the Dayton ones withough having to fiddle with the rabbit ears. After that it was time to look at the cable signal. It looked great for analog! I went to channel 81 (where I knew I would find 7 digital sub-channels...... "no signal". Searching for signal.... no signal...
CRAP!!!
After looking throught he manual and seeing absolutely no mention either way about QAM...I called the salesman at the store and asked him just how to get the unencrypted digital channels from cable. After discussing with him how, no I did not need a box and finally convincing him that ATSC and QAM are not interchangeable terms, he finally looks up on the internet for his feature guides and product comparisons. As we are talking on the phone (I was being nice), I hear him mutter...oh crap.
There we have it... He admitted his error within 5 seconds and apologized profusely. He then invited me to return the TV and by the time I got to the store, he would have some options for me.
He was a man of his word. When I got to the store, he was ready with a few choices. We quickly settled on a Toshiba 32(something)66 which had all the features I wanted with the exception of a second antenna input. But the price was right. another $100 cheaper after coupon and "oops" discount. The picture in the store was comperable. And as it turns out, at home it looked a little better since it didn't show as much motion pixelation on the HD channels. (very minor though).
So, all of Saturday night, most of sunday when I wasn't suffering an emotional roller-coaster at Paul Brown Stadium, and until I had to go to work today, I was enjoying this new increadibly great looking TV! Wow! I can see now why some have been whining about the lack on HD content on Dish or DirecTV and asking for the Fishtank channel in HD.
I am not one of these yet, I am shoked at how comparitavely lousy TNT sd looks vs TNT HD. However i was pleasantly surprised how good many of the SD channels look!
So, I am now in the HD camp. I fell into the pool so hard that now I am looking to replace the main TV withing a few months (as soon as I can get my wallet to open up again.) But this time a little wider since the next TV will be a 42-47" TV!
See ya (more clearly)
Tony
I have done some research and had an idea what I wanted. My list included an ATSC tuner, QAM decoding and a screen size about the same height as the set I was replacing. It is a BEDROOM TV I kept on telling myself. The gadget freak in me wanted all the toys, but my wallet kept on biting my butt telling me "Keep it under a kilo-buck, moron!"
I looked at the wall of TV sets at this retailer and there were dozens and dozens of great looking pictures on TV sets ranging in price from way, way too much to just about right but still too much money. I eventually started hovering around one group of TV sets long enough so that a salesman finally approached me asking if I had any questions.
So here we go...how did I do on the salesman lottery. I never let on what I know and told him what I was looking for. Alarm bell #1: When I asked for a TV that has QAM decoding, his answer was, "They all have that." I asked three times if he was sure about that. He never became indignant, but was insistant that "they all have it". We talk about many of the other features on the TVs and the more he talks, the more I am certain that, though a very nice person, this man had no clue what he was saying. He did know his specs and knew what input capabilities each set had. But when he finally said that hooking up cable to the TV would NEVER give you a true digital picture, he showed me how little he understood the subject.
So knowing this man was uninformed and unintentionally attempting to mislead me, I finally settled down on a Samsung he INSISTED had QAM decoding. I was somewhat familiar with the model and remembered it did not say if it had QAM or not. But I bought the Samsung 3251 which was $1159 - $150 "coupon sale" so just about the kilobuck mark. Perfect.
I took the TV home and quickly put it together and removed my old failing 27" TV. I hooked up the lifeline cable which has 4 or 5 local channels in HD as well as a half-dozen other digital and HD channels in the clear (meaning a QAM decoder can get the channels no problem), the antenna, and Dish. I turned on the TV and WOW! great pictures. I was fiddling around with the antenna for a while and finally got it so it would get me all the Cincinnati digital local channels and some of the Dayton ones withough having to fiddle with the rabbit ears. After that it was time to look at the cable signal. It looked great for analog! I went to channel 81 (where I knew I would find 7 digital sub-channels...... "no signal". Searching for signal.... no signal...
CRAP!!!
After looking throught he manual and seeing absolutely no mention either way about QAM...I called the salesman at the store and asked him just how to get the unencrypted digital channels from cable. After discussing with him how, no I did not need a box and finally convincing him that ATSC and QAM are not interchangeable terms, he finally looks up on the internet for his feature guides and product comparisons. As we are talking on the phone (I was being nice), I hear him mutter...oh crap.
There we have it... He admitted his error within 5 seconds and apologized profusely. He then invited me to return the TV and by the time I got to the store, he would have some options for me.
He was a man of his word. When I got to the store, he was ready with a few choices. We quickly settled on a Toshiba 32(something)66 which had all the features I wanted with the exception of a second antenna input. But the price was right. another $100 cheaper after coupon and "oops" discount. The picture in the store was comperable. And as it turns out, at home it looked a little better since it didn't show as much motion pixelation on the HD channels. (very minor though).
So, all of Saturday night, most of sunday when I wasn't suffering an emotional roller-coaster at Paul Brown Stadium, and until I had to go to work today, I was enjoying this new increadibly great looking TV! Wow! I can see now why some have been whining about the lack on HD content on Dish or DirecTV and asking for the Fishtank channel in HD.
I am not one of these yet, I am shoked at how comparitavely lousy TNT sd looks vs TNT HD. However i was pleasantly surprised how good many of the SD channels look!
So, I am now in the HD camp. I fell into the pool so hard that now I am looking to replace the main TV withing a few months (as soon as I can get my wallet to open up again.) But this time a little wider since the next TV will be a 42-47" TV!
See ya (more clearly)
Tony
