December 3rd, 2008
Holiday Gift Guide 2008: High-end home theater setups
Economy be damned, you want to upgrade your home theater—and do it right—for the holidays (and/or in anticipation of the Super Bowl). If you have the means to spend more than two grand on a set and the hundreds and hundreds more to round out your setup with primo components, you won’t lack for superb options.
High-End HDTVs
Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U
Believe it or not, you can get Panasonic’s fantastic 50-inch 1080p plasma for around $2,000, showing how even top-of-the-line sets are free falling in price. As with the best plasmas, the TH-50PZ800U produces deep black levels that most LCDs can’t hold a candle to. But what really sets this HDTV apart is its inclusion of THX Display Certification; the THX mode automatically calibrates the picture according to the content being displayed, so you don’t need to endlessly tweak picture controls manually for the best image quality.
November 30th, 2008
Surveys show consumers love HDTVs, but show some confusion about HD programming
Two recent research studies have found that the demand from U.S. consumers for HDTVs hasn’t slackened despite the tough economy, but confusion remains about what you do with the TV once the set is purchased.
You would presume that people are seeking out HDTVs in order to step up to the superior image quality of high-definition programming, and yet the Leichtman Research Group found that an astonishing 18 percent of HDTV owners mistakenly think they’re watching HD programs when they are watching standard-definition broadcasts. That confusion isn’t helped by the fact that 42 percent of those surveyed weren’t educated on how to obtain high-definition programming when they were buying their sets. As a result, many people buy a flat screen, take it home, plug it into their set-top box, and just think they have HD.
With their prices plummeting, people are also buying more and more 1080p HDTVs, which means they have the 1,920×1,080 resolution necessary to show Blu-ray discs in their full glory. But even though Blu-ray is now the sole high-def disc format in the marketplace, and prices for players have dropped to $200 or less, only 8 percent of consumers are planning to purchase Blu-ray players this holiday season, according to a survey by ABI Research. Perhaps people aren’t aware that they can take advantage of their 1080p sets with Blu-ray, or perhaps they’re satisfied with the video quality from upconverting standard definition DVD players. Either way, it appears that Blu-ray players will need to be even cheaper to really catch on with mainstream buyers—maybe $100 or under.
Whether or not consumers are aware enough to make the best use of their new sets, they still are looking to purchase HDTVs. ABI Research found that 18 percent of people were going to buy a new HDTV over the holidays, while Leicthman’s survey showed that a quarter of respondents were planning to buy one in the next year.
November 25th, 2008
Blockbuster joins movie-streaming race with 2Wire MediaPoint digital media player
With Netflix pushing hard into the living room with the Netflix Player by Roku, Vudu offering an improved device (the BX100) with HD streaming, and, of course, Apple TV still hanging around, Blockbuster was bound to want to join the streaming movie club, even if the company is on the ropes. Finally, the movie rental (once) giant has hit this niche of the home theater market, teaming up with 2Wire to introduce the MediaPoint player, which costs $99 in the form of paying for 25 movie rentals in advance. (So, free, but not.)
Subsequent rentals from Blockbuster OnDemand will cost $1.99 and up; downloads for your PC currently run $3.99 for newer releases. Movies can play immediately or can be stored on the MediaPoint unit, though neither company announced how much storage is on the player. Content can be transmitted wirelessly through the player’s built-in 802.11g Wi-Fi or wired through its Ethernet port. Video outputs include HDMI, component video, and composite video, while audio can be sent via a digital optical Toslink connection. You can currently order the MediaPoint device at Blockbuster’s Web site; presumably it will be available at the company’s bricks-and-mortar locations.
Loading …November 23rd, 2008
2008 Holiday Buying Guide: Midrange home theater setups
Last week, I gave some recommendations for budget home theater setups. This time, I’m looking at home theater products for a slightly larger budget: TVs that cost between $1,000 and $2,000, plus slightly more expensive components. Even with the additional outlay, it doesn’t add up to a ridiculous sum, and you’ll be getting an incredible experience in your living room, especially if this is your first upgrade to HD.
Midrange HDTVs
Sony KDL-46W4100
If you want a solid Sony at a respectable price, this 46-inch 1080p model fits the bill. Its main strengths are its 120Hz refresh rate and dejudder video processing and excellent black-level performance for an LCD.
November 20th, 2008
Vizio unveils $1,999.99 55-inch 120Hz LCD HDTV for January release
Vizio decided to jump the gun on CES and announce some new home theater products today, including a 55-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD for just $1,999.99, another aggressive pricing decision that will once again drag the prices (and profits) down for the Samsungs and Sonys of the world.
The VF550XVT1A features a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a whopping five HDMI ports, and SRS TruSurround HD and TruVolume audio technology, the latter of which is designed to smooth out the jumps in volume when you’re switching channels. It will be available in January, just in time for Super Bowl viewing (which Vizio has to refer to vaguely as “The Big Game”). While 52-inch LCDs are quickly coming down in price below $2,000, bigger LCDs are quite uncommon and are currently priced at least $500 more. We’ll need to see, however, if this Vizio can match a Bravia in picture quality.
For those looking for sets for kitchens or guest bedrooms and in need of some immediate gratification, Vizio announced the current availability of new smaller-size sets, including a 22 incher that implausibly (and pointlessly) is a 1080p model. The 26-inch VA26 costs $449.99, while that 22-inch 1080p set, the VA22, sells for $349.99 and the 19-inch VA19 is priced at $249.99.
Finally, Vizio will release a new sound bar speaker solution next month. The $349.99 VSB210WS is the usual sound bar-and-subwoofer combo, though the subwoofer is wireless, so there’s one fewer cable to trip over in your home theater setup. It also has the same support for SRS TruSurround HD and TruVolume as the VF550XVT1A.
November 19th, 2008
Holiday Gift Guide 2008: Budget home theater setups
This is the first of a series of buying guides for those looking forward to this holiday season as a time to assemble a home theater system.
First up: budget setups.
Whether you need to create a home theater on the cheap, or you live in a small space that can’t handle a big system, you can assemble a solid set of components for less than ever. Even if you hold off on Blu-ray and don’t spring for a dedicated A/V receiver, you can create a perfectly adequate HD setup while sparing you wallet too much pain.
Budget HDTVs
Vizio VO32L
For those on a very tight budget, or who don’t need a big set, the 32-inch 720p VO32L delivers fine performance for an entry-level price. In particular, the VO32L handles black levels well, which is almost always the Achilles’ heel of cheaper LCD sets. You also get a couple of HDMI ports so you can hook up set-top boxes and DVD players with a pure digital connection.
List Price: $649.99
November 16th, 2008
Circuit City Black Friday ad finally leaks. More yawns.
After Best Buy’s Black Friday ad leaked online the other day, bargain hunters were waiting for someone at Circuit City to slip up and its ad to reach the Internet, which has finally happened. And as with other ads already unearthed, the deals aren’t so hot considering the economy and—in this case—the bankruptcy filing earlier in the week.
We’ve seen similar prices for Samsung 720p plasmas elsewhere ($699.99 for a 42-inch model, $899.99 for a 50 incher), and while 1080p LCDs are now under $1,000 (in this case a 42-inch Panasonic and a 40-inch Sony each for $899.99), they’re not I-gotta-stand-in-line prices. Circuit City also charges $200 more for a 65-inch Mitsubishi 1080p DLP set than Best Buy does for a 60-inch model. You can click here for the full Circuit City Black Friday HDTV ad prices, but online retailers will probably meet or beat these prices soon enough, and you can sleep late after packing all that turkey in.
It’s clear that all of these Black Friday deals were determined when the economy was looking grim, but not cataclysmic. Rather than being the Super Bowl for bargain shoppers, the day after Thanksgiving may just be the season opener for what could get real ugly for retailers—and really enticing for those who still have the money to spend this holiday season.
November 13th, 2008
Best Buy Black Friday ad leaks. Don’t get too excited. get too excited.
While Circuit City has pretty much crashed and burned, Best Buy has chugged merrily along. But the electronics retailing giant has just made a pessimistic forecast of its year-end earnings, which led many to think its Black Friday special were going to be something special. Well, the Best Buy Black Friday ad has finally leaked—and it’s probably not going to make you dash over to line up after Thanksgiving dinner if you’re looking for incredible HDTV values.
One particularly good deal (one of the doorbuster items) would seem to be a 50-inch Panasonic 720p plasma for $899, except you can already buy a 50-inch Panasonic 720p plasma (TH-50PX80U) for $949 at J & R Electronics. Other deals are also decent, if not overwhelming. For instance, the $799 Samsung LN-40A500 is a good price for a 40-inch 1080p LCD, though Sears had a deal for the set at the same price last month. The $999.99 Mitsubishi WD-60735 60-inch DLP HDTV is $100 less than the lower price online for the set today; the $699.99 price for the Samsung PN-42A400 42-inch 720p plasma is the same as Kmart is offering on Black Friday. Click to see the full list of HDTV deals in the Best Buy Black Friday ad.
Amazingly, Circuit City has declared for bankruptcy, and yet its Black Friday ad hasn’t leaked. Maybe it will offer some fantastic deals. (By all logic, it should.) But if you can hold off until after the holidays, when HDTV sales are normally flat, the price-cutting could get to desperation levels. I can hardly wait.
November 11th, 2008
Third-quarter HDTV sales pace slows, plasmas show new signs of life
Research firm DisplaySearch has released its third-quarter report on the state of the TV market, and it shows that the crummy economy is finally starting to erode sales growth for HDTVs. Manufacturers shipped 6 percent more sets to retailers than in the second quarter, while year-to-year growth is 12 percent. Considering that declines are popping up everywhere on the retail front, that’s not a bad showing, but sales growth could grind to a halt in the fourth quarter.
Another indicator of the belt tightening consumers are doing these days: Sales growth in LCDs with screen sizes less than 40 inches was 7 percent over last quarter, but bigger, pricier LCD sets gained only 3 percentage points. Price appears to be a big factor in plasma’s semi-comeback. Almost written off for dead, plasma sets have finally plummeted below $1,000 for many models, which has lead to a 20 percent year-to-year growth. And amazingly, CRTs are still hanging around, a trend that DisplaySearch suggests is due to people looking for the cheapest digital set they can find before analog TV disappears next year.
Among the top five sales leaders, the top three increased their market share: Samsung moved from 18.8 percent of the market to 19.4 percent, while Sony went from 10.3 percent to 12.3 percent, and Sharp jumped from 6.8 percent to 9 percent. Rounding out the top five, Vizio and LG declined slightly from last quarter. HDTVs still remain one of the most sought-after holiday purchases, but the fourth-quarter numbers will show how much—or how little—of a bump the holidays will give TV sales.
November 10th, 2008
Visionman Allio 32-inch and 42-inch HDTVs with built-in PCs debut
One of the most popular posts since this blog started concerned whether people would use all-in-one PCs as their primary HDTVs. While all-in-ones from Sony may work for apartments or if you want an HDTV in your office, the fact is that a 24-inch or 26-inch screen isn’t going to cut it in most living rooms. The folks at Visionman (best known for its servers and performance PCs) have obviously been paying attention, as the company has just announced its Allio line of Media Center LCD HDTV/PCs, which will come in more home-theater-friendly 32-inch and 42-inch sizes.
The 32-inch model starts at $1,599, which means it doesn’t cost much more than 30-inch computer monitors, but packed within the 720p HDTV is an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a DVD burner, a Hauppauge HVR-950Q TV tuner, and built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. The $2,199 version moves to an Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 CPU, 500GB hard drive, and—perhaps most importantly—a Blu-ray player/DVD burner combo drive. For $200 more than that, you can get the 32-inch Allio with a Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive.
Not surprisingly, the 42-inch models costs more, but in addition to more screen, you also get a 1080p screen. The PC specs for each config are the same as for the 32-inch Allios, however. The base 42-incher costs $1,999, while the mid-tier model is priced at $2,599 and the top config is $2,799.99.
The Allio also comes with decent connectivity, including 6 USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, two component-video ports, and a pair of HDMI inputs. Despite the added computer components, the set is still wall mountable. It comes with a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse and equipped with Windows Vista Home Premium, which means Media Center’s DVR capabilities are built-in to record shows on the Allio’s hard drive. It is saddled with integrated graphics (understandable given the form factor), so you’ll want to keep the action limited to console gaming.
While the Allio is a noteworthy step forward that a TV manufacturer is eventually going to emulate, its biggest problem is that it’s from a niche PC company, so the number of people willing to try it out will be limited. Will you be one of them? If not, would you be more willing if it came from a big-name company like Apple, HP, Samsung, or Sony? Let us know in Talkback.
[Via CrunchGear]
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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