a lifetime of scrutiny
renee certainly knows how to keep a secret. apparently behind the cleverly misguiding comments about us not needing a new TV, she had been planning for months - MONTHS! - to drop a 50" plasma on me for my birthday. i am rarely speechless (duh), and upon walking into her parents' basement i was in complete shock.
setup was a breeze (having already laid-out plans for its inclusion into our home AV mix in my waking fantasies) and within a few minutes adrian and i were playing co-op halo 3 in 1080i. the tivo and the wii both do 480p just fine. although now i am reconsidering time warner (the new devil) vs. directv, not sure whose HD package is better (wait for it)... opinions?
and yeah if people are interested in watching some boxing over here, it's much more feasible now...
update: so this process has been quite educational. turns out my cheap component switchbox has been hax0ring my surround-sound signal - something i apparently haven't noticed before today (or occurred when i rewired my whole setup on friday). time to replace, and i hear this philips unit is a good replacement.
with no antenna hooked up, i can pull five HD channels off the air - both WLWTs, both PBS's, and 64. i'm not sure if it's worth picking up an antenna, then, especially if we move to directv HD. although this has me considering a switch back to the new devil, time warner, since directv will likely require me to get a new dish and a new receiver. i guess time warner will make me get a box anyway - but i won't need one for the other tv.
haven't you enjoyed all of this rambling? no? fine then - criss angel is a tool. discuss.
your description of Time Warner is accurate, so stay away. I, on the other hand, with all of my friggin' trees around my house, have no choice but to suck on their teat. The box is terrible and I have had nothing but problems with mine since purchasing and so has Brad and Darren. Stay away. Drop a few more dimes and stick with directv. They sound much more reliable. Don't ask questions. Just do it.
Welcome to the VIZIO REVOLUTION!!!
Ok, I know I'm going to sound like a heretic here, but time warner isn't too bad. Yeah they're not carrying as many HD channels as Dish which is going to happen for a while because the bandwidth can't support it. But They have added TBS, ESPN2, HGTV, and Food Net in the last month. I've not had any problems with the box for Time Warner. HD doesn't cost you any more than basic digital cable, so that's a plus. And you get all of your locals without the hassle of an antenna (but it sounds like you don't need it). But the plus side to DirecTV is that they have about 20 more channels in HD. But as many times as I've weighed my options to switch to dish, it's going to cost about $15-$20 more per month for TV, Net, and Phone. But if you're already with Dish, I'd stay there. And you can probably throw in the new TiVo HD with the dish for pretty cheep!
I hope Vizio pans out to be a reliable TV. I know a lot of people buying them for the price, but they haven't been around very long. So I hope they don't have any major problems for you sake. The only knock I have against your TV is that it doesn't support 1080p, which is where everything is headed. But I don't think we'll notice that much difference between 1080i and 1080p.
unfortunately "a few more dimes" looks to be $120, which is what directv wants for the 'upgrade' process - i need a new dish and a new receiver. but the HD package is only $10 more than I already pay, which includes the Bell discount. i don't know if i can swallow that $120, though, that just irritates me.
i am stoked for food network hd. can't beat Paula Dean and Giada De Laurentiis in hd. you really can't. i tried to beat it, and i couldn't.