Cool! 42" Westinghouse finally dropped more at bestbuy!

[IncredibleHat]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1138084694260

I've been watching this puppy for awhile now. They finally dropped the price of it, AND put it on sale.

Its now about $300 less than before.

I had missed out way back some 5 months ago when they had this on sale for $500 off, and had been kicking myself ever since.

[evilpenguin]

Wow, that's not a bad price at all. I think i'll just wait until they throw in a freebie item with it and i'll take the plunge.

[Polypro]

Anyone ever paint an LCD black? I'll have to check out AVS for the concensus on HTPC use.

P

[Jason]

Still too rich for my blood... I am looking at this one...

http://www.moskalyuk.com/blog/vizio-...tv-review/1211

-Jason

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by Polypro

Anyone ever paint an LCD black? I'll have to check out AVS for the concensus on HTPC use.

P

It would be kind of hard to see the picture then, wouldn't it?

BTW, I'm running the 47" Westy, and I love it for HTPC use!

[Polypro]

LOL! Yeah, I actually want the EyeFi 47" the price has dropped at both Wally and Sams. Good HTPC reviews on AVS. Any way, OT, thanks for posting the info.

P

[IncredibleHat]

I've got the smaller 32" Westing... I love it. It's old now... but still great.

I think he meant 'black' for the casing. I don't understand this 'silver' craze myself either... I like flat black equipment, as its more hidden and unseen that way.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by IncredibleHat

I think he meant 'black' for the casing.

I think he was kidding.

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I think he was kidding.

No, serious! How are you going to watch TV through a layer of black paint? I have to know! If it was a plasma it would be obvious, but how do you do it on an LCD?!?!



(Just in case it isn't clear. I really am kidding. )

[evilpenguin]

Price dropped even more to $1,619 today.

[IncredibleHat]

Yup... I'm having it bought today. I'm done waiting this is the best I've seen it in a long while, so, I'm happy with the discount.

[jbarr]

Looks like this went on sale today for $1599.99 at Best Buy. I'm starting to look at a replacement form my 26" tube TV, and the Westinghouse does look like a decent TV, and the price is in line with what I am looking for. It is just a monitor with no tuner, but I don't think that'll be a problem, as everything will eventually come in through the SageTV HTPC. So my queston is this:

I have a mid-range nVidea card with both DVI, VGA, and S-video out. When hooking it up, do you recommend hooking it up via DMI or VGA? All output will initiallby be SD from two Hauppauge 150 cards, but (far) down the road, I'll likely add an HD tuner card.

Also, what resolution from 10-12' do you recommend on the PC? I'd like to strike a balance between quality and readability.

[Polypro]

Use DVI, the less D-->A conversions, the better. Run the panel at it's native rez...1920x1080. I use Opera, set to open at 150% for browsing...no prob from 8 feet away.

P

[evilpenguin]

I actually just bought one today myself. The store also matched bestbuy.com's offer of the free Phillips home theater system, however, the way the did it was have me buy the home theater and then they subtraced the price from the TV. Hopefully this means I can go to a different Bestbuy in a week or so and return the home theater and get the cash back.

My initial thoughs on the TV:

[jbarr]

evilpenguin, I'm looking forward to your impressions on your new 42". What's confusing to me is the sheer choice of TV's available right now. I'd love a TV that's larger than 32", and I would prefer either LCD or plasma pver rear projection. I want HD over ED, and it doesn't need an OTA tuner, because all input will come from my HTPC. Sounds like the Westinghouse would definitely fit these needs. Any major drawbacks to this model that would steer me away?

[IncredibleHat]

As far as drawbacks ... gads. Even my old 32" westinghouse didn't have any! I LOVE the direct "DVI" inputs... because it means NO CONVERTOR CABLES YAY!

It doesn't have built in OTA HD Decoders... you need a HD 'box' (satelite, or cable, or HTPC). But it seems to be the way things go these days... piping in from a source, and the TV is more of just a monitor now. I can only get one HD channel OTA anyways here! LOL.

As far as resolution, you can do whichever, as there are various ways to 'enlarge' your text onscreen to be seen. I sit 12feet away from mine, and its almost impossible to read text at 10-12pt... I have to boost it, or move up close to fiddle with control panel settings

[jbarr]

Originally Posted by IncredibleHat

I LOVE the direct "DVI" inputs... because it means NO CONVERTOR CABLES YAY!

So this confirms what "polypro" said about DMI vs VGA: Use DMI. My goal, like most, is to have the cleanest, sharpest, and fastest image possible given my setup. Sounds like everyone is saying that DVI is the preferred way to go.

As for making the PC more readable, it shouldn't be a big deal. I helped my brother-in-law do the same, and though it took some tweaking, it's now very readable from a decent distance.

Regarding readability, one more question: If I adjust things in Windows to make things more readable from a distance, how will this affect SageTV itself? It appears that SageTV handles most font and UI element sizing itself with most menus auto-sizing, and many screens having font size parameters.

I know I'm probably just being over-cuatious....

[evilpenguin]

Sage (SageMC especially!) though the DVI running at 1920x1080 looks amazing. All of the menus and OSDs are unbelivably crisp.

[IncredibleHat]

Yeah, sage uses a 'set size'. Resolution increase, only sharpens/smoothens the edges out. It will still be readable/viewable the way it was, just look better doing it.

Kind of like how some games are with 800res vs 1280res... same amount on the screen, just a whole lots clearer at higher resolution.

[jbarr]

Just wonderful. I told my wife last night that I was going to start looking into a new TV, and I told her I wasn't going to buy one right away--just in the "investigation" stage--looks like I may have to drop some cash this week....