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Researching HDTV Refresh rate 120 vs. 60

zaphod

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2007
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www.monoprice.com

Very nice quality cables. I have probably 5 or 6 HDMI cables in my set up, and all of them are monoprice cables. I even have a HDMI switcher that I use, and it works fantastic.

Do yourself one big favor though, if you get all that stuff set up.

Get a Harmony remote. You'll thank me. :)



For cables I went with these guys. Excellent price and a wide range of choices. Also excellent non B.S. write up to help you choose.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/
I'm going for Harmony too but since new models just came out I'm going to wait for price drop. Perhaps June should be 40 to 50% less. Harmony One or Harmony 890.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Nov 15, 2005
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www.monoprice.com

Very nice quality cables. I have probably 5 or 6 HDMI cables in my set up, and all of them are monoprice cables. I even have a HDMI switcher that I use, and it works fantastic.

Do yourself one big favor though, if you get all that stuff set up.

Get a Harmony remote. You'll thank me. :)
HDMI is the next thing I will have to start to familiarize myself with. Although the XBox360 I have came with one.

I have been using the Harmony 670 remote for over a year now, that I picked up as it seemed most compatible and most resembling the TiVo remote and that used regular AA batteries. Considered going better at the time, but now that I will likely be getting rid of components as a result of the TV, it should suffice. While I have always had lower standards when it came to things like speaker or picture quality, and still have basic cable, convenience and gadgetry are a whole other story. Been using various decent Universal remotes for years, they do not hold a candle to the Harmony.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Sony is on my permanent boycott list, along with a few other major corporations.
I have always been the same way with companies and even boycott Sony for various products, even though I own stock in their company. Although I will likely always buy their TV's if the trend I notice continues. I went through about 3 various model 27" TV's in a span of about 8 years prior to picking up my current Trinitron, which is now maybe 9 or 10 years old. Have a Trinitron monitor that I used for about 12 years with various computer, bought it I believe in 1992) and actually still works like it was almost new up in one of our rooms. the monitor I had before that had to be fixed 3 times in about 3 years, and that was when monitors weren't cheap. The Trinitron and most similar monitors at the time ran around $700-800.

On the flip side, I have a DVD recorder for my Entertainment center that I bought from them that had to be fixed twice in one year. You will never see me buy one of them again. Although I guess it was a blessing in disguise, because it was what made me realize TiVo is not such a bad deal price wise. So while I would have to give it some thought prior to buying any Sony product, their TV's and monitors will continue to always be an option. Although I currently have a ViewSonic Monitor, I doubt I will ever buy anything but Sony TV's until I have issues.

edit 1 - Kinda funny actually, because Logitech went onto "My List" last year after having some issues and lack of support with many of the products. Although Harmony Remotes and their Computer Mice (corded models) have always been good to me. Kind of a Catch-22. I never realized they had absolutely horrendous support because I never had one of their product ever break until last year, then had the 3 most recent go in a span of about 6 months and their support basically told me to go pound sand until I really pushed the issue. One of the products was a remote, but not of the Harmony style. It was a Wireless DJ, and even though I had bought the product directly through them only a few months before, they initially took the attitude that they shouldn't be required to support the product because they just came out with a newer model. After about a month of trying to work it out, I just simply took the approach it was still under warranty and was broken, even though it was lack of adequate driver for Vista. Since it said it supported Vista I then demanded a refund, which took about another 3 months. In the same time frame, I has 2 of their wireless keyboard and mice go bad, so went to a corded mouse and to a corded MS Keyboard.

The Harmony remotes are actually through a different branch of support.
 

FATC1TY

Taylormade Ho' Magnet
May 29, 2008
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I have 2 Harmony remotes and they are my pride and joy. I mean, seriously, I've got them to do it all.

My girlfriend isn't as tech audio/video savvy as I am, and for her to mess with lord knows how many remotes we'd have for all the crap I have in my HT, she'd be lost. Same goes for people visiting. Not one person hasn't wanted to plop down, watch tv, a dvd, see what blu-ray is about or play xbox360..

The remote is a simple, 1 button push, everything is turned on, tuned to what I wanted it to do, sound comes out in the format I want it to, and fine tuning of the tv.

Bluejeans are also great cables, you can't go wrong with those. I went with monoprice, because they have fantastic service. The shipping is extremely fast and reasonable, although for buying 1 cable, it's not. Monster probably hates losing business to a company who's shipping cost more than 1 cable of equal value to their own.

PaJayhawk,

Have you looked and considered a plasma? Some hate them, but damn are they the smoothest for watching movies/dvd's on.. The black levels on mine are incredible. Panasonic makes one of THE best plasmas, for the price. Price being the key. If I had MY way, and the money to do so, a Pioneer Kuro Elite can not be beat, hands down. I have never seen a set produce anything close to it. The next being the Panasonic.
 

zaphod

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2007
2,160
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For short HDMI cables (say 6' ot less) monoprice price can not be beat. Service is good. If you need a faster transfer rate--generally speaking nothing but extremely high end equipment-- try Bluejean Belden cables first.. IMHO Monster cables are good but you are paying way too much for the upgrade warranty and unsubstantiated HYPE. For any long distance HDMI cable such as in wall etc go with Bluejean.
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Have you looked and considered a plasma? Some hate them, but damn are they the smoothest for watching movies/dvd's on.. The black levels on mine are incredible. Panasonic makes one of THE best plasmas, for the price. Price being the key. If I had MY way, and the money to do so, a Pioneer Kuro Elite can not be beat, hands down. I have never seen a set produce anything close to it. The next being the Panasonic.
Once again, FatCity speaks truth. The tech-foo is strong in this one.

One of my distributors has a re-boxed 50" Pro-101 Kuro Elite for $3495. I came THIS close to snagging it. Those are going for $5K right now. There is nothing that can touch it. Not even my pet fave, the JVC D-ILA units.

He also has a re-boxed 50" Panasonic 1080p plasma for $695...but it's the cheapo model. Panasonic makes awesome plasmas, and el cheapo plasmas. Get one of the good ones and they are top-tier.

I'm holding out for the Kuro Elite, now that Pioneer has bowed out of the plasma business. When I see a 50" model for under $2K, I will buy it.
 

FATC1TY

Taylormade Ho' Magnet
May 29, 2008
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Same here. If I find one around $2000, I'm snagging it.

I'd have an fit to sit down in front of my 60" Kuro Elite and watch a Blu-ray. Talk about a techy boner. :)

I wasn't aware Pioneer bowed out the plasma market.. I haven't followed it for a while. I guess the high-end was slacking when the market was teeming with people wanting entry level plasmas, and people like Vizio were just destroying the market share.

BTW,the deal on the 50" 1080p model is a damn good deal, even if it's like the cheaper end. I honestly haven't found much difference.. The only thing I find that a good plasma needs, is an anti glare screen.
My 42" in the bedroom doesn't have it, and doesn't need it. My 50" in the living room WILL pick up a glare with the curtains open, but we're talking a small glare, and a 10 foot sliding glass door too. ;)

Jayhawk, take a look at a plasma.. If you have a ton of windows that would present a glare, maybe look into the ones with a anti glare screen. Plasmas won't look "hey look at me, I'm airport runway light" bright, but they will look much smoother and refined.. More natural to me.

Not to mention, Plasmas can be had for cheaper than LCD's, for the most part.

www.slickdeals.net

Search for HDTV's...These folks will find a deal, local or online. I've bought a brand new 42" Panasonic from BB for around $325 over a year ago. :)
 

FATC1TY

Taylormade Ho' Magnet
May 29, 2008
2,878
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For short HDMI cables (say 6' ot less) monoprice price can not be beat. Service is good. If you need a faster transfer rate--generally speaking nothing but extremely high end equipment-- try Bluejean Belden cables first.. IMHO Monster cables are good but you are paying way too much for the upgrade warranty and unsubstantiated HYPE. For any long distance HDMI cable such as in wall etc go with Bluejean.

Great point.. My in-wall HDMI is around 6ft, or 8ft. I can't remember.. I got the higher end stuff for the in-wall.. For connecting components.. I have 3ft ones for $3 bucks from them. :)

Also- get some HDMI connection extensions. Some argue it degrades the quality, I haven't seen examples of it. But it completely saves your HDMI inputs on your panel from stress if it's mounted on the wall or in a cabinet.

They are easier to hook up too behind a wall mount, and it's a PITA.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Nov 15, 2005
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PaJayhawk,

Have you looked and considered a plasma? Some hate them, but damn are they the smoothest for watching movies/dvd's on.. The black levels on mine are incredible. Panasonic makes one of THE best plasmas, for the price. Price being the key. If I had MY way, and the money to do so, a Pioneer Kuro Elite can not be beat, hands down. I have never seen a set produce anything close to it. The next being the Panasonic.

Jayhawk, take a look at a plasma.. If you have a ton of windows that would present a glare, maybe look into the ones with a anti glare screen. Plasmas won't look "hey look at me, I'm airport runway light" bright, but they will look much smoother and refined.. More natural to me.
To be honest, I never really gave the plasmas much thought, in large part because of what I mentioned earlier in trusting Sony for TV's. They do not make Plasmas. I rarely watch movies that are not either recorded from cable or downloaded in a lower quality from Amazon Unbox. We also do have a ton of windows in our LR. Basically the entire back wall and wrapping around the side wall towards the TV, then skylights. Which was part of what turned me off of even looking.
 

FATC1TY

Taylormade Ho' Magnet
May 29, 2008
2,878
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Yeah, if you have that much light, you might be best with an LCD. If your not totally stuck on Sony, keep looking around.. Samsung makes IMO, a MUCH better panel. If I bought an LCD today, I wouldn't even look at a Sony. That just me though, while I think Sony is nice, they aren't the highest quality out there for panels, just one of the highest prices.
 

MGP

Clubmaking Ho
Supporting Member
Apr 21, 2007
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Yeah, if you have that much light, you might be best with an LCD. If your not totally stuck on Sony, keep looking around.. Samsung makes IMO, a MUCH better panel. If I bought an LCD today, I wouldn't even look at a Sony. That just me though, while I think Sony is nice, they aren't the highest quality out there for panels, just one of the highest prices.

My best friend just got a high end 46" Samsung at Christmas and it's awesome. We watched the Superbowl on it and I was highly impressed.

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...type=lcdtv&model_cd=LN46A860S2FXZA&fullspec=F

Edit: Before this TV he was a lifelong Sony guy too. :D
 

FATC1TY

Taylormade Ho' Magnet
May 29, 2008
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Samsung aren't rated amongst the highest for no reason. They seriously have a strong hold on the LCD panel market.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Samsung was actually second on my list for Computer LCD's, and the only reason I decided on the Viewsonic is that it was kind of and untested market with the 106% NTSC Color as I do a bit of Photo work and still wanted a low milliseconds for gaming.

While I probably have a little time before we buy, I may have to give the Samsung's another look. They have always had fantastic monitors, and I can't imagine that of a Computer LCD and a TV are much different. They are the monitor I just recommended to my father for his PC as I was not sure he would want to search around online for a ViewSonic.

Thanks!!!
 

selbac

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Mar 23, 2009
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I finally pull the trigger on Samsung 32" LCD TV a few weeks ago. At first I was torn between Sony and Samsung but finally settled for the latter because of budget constraints. Prior to that, I was looking at LCD TV ratings and it proved to be quite useful.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Nov 15, 2005
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Got a little delayed on this, as the entertainment centers didn't quite meet what we wanted. Ordered the Entertainment center yesterday and will be delivered on Tuesday.

Ordered the TV today after a bit of research and bought the one I wanted at a slightly higher cost to get it from B&H. Kind of a shame, they had them available at a local establishment yesterday, and when I called back today they were gone. Already had my mind set on the model. I was a little off base before and realized after doing a little research that 5.1 Surround Sound compatible meant a wire and not speaker hookups.

Will deal with that later.

This is the model I got.
Sony | KDL-46Z4100/B 46" 1080p Bravia LCD | KDL-46Z4100/B
KDL-46Z4100/B | 46" BRAVIA® Z Series LCD HDTV | Sony | Sony Style USA

... will post some picture in a week or so when I have both set up, will have to get a better speaker setup shortly after.
 

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