basic home theater questions

[Leros]

I'm gonna be moving into a new apartment soon and I wanna get myself a decent but cheapish system. I haven't had a tv in about 10 years and that was 19" inch CRT.

I've heard good thing about Samsung and I've seen a 32" model for about $650-700. I've seen one with 3 HDMI ports, a few component and composite, and vga. It also has digital optical out. I also saw a 37" Vizio for a bit more. Vizio 37" vs Samsung 32"?

I want to get a lower end HTIB. $200-$300. I've heard that Onkyo is the way to go. I'm debating between 5.1 and 2.1 at the moment. I'm not sure how much I care about surround, and I'm not sure my budget allows me to get a decent 5.1 setup anyway. Any suggestions? Otherwise I'll just get the best Onkyo I can afford.

Should I plug everything into my tv and connect the optical audio out to my receiver? Let the tv handle the switching and just control the volume through the receiver? Is this the right way to handle it or should I be using the plugs on the receiver?

For devices plugged in, I'll eventually have: cable box/dvr (component or HDMI, I assume), Wii (component), pc (hdmi), some kind of dvd player (hdmi).

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Leros
Should I plug everything into my tv and connect the optical audio out to my receiver? Let the tv handle the switching and just control the volume through the receiver? Is this the right way to handle it or should I be using the plugs on the receiver?

For devices plugged in, I'll eventually have: cable box/dvr (component or HDMI, I assume), Wii (component), pc (hdmi), some kind of dvd player (hdmi).

That's how I would do it.

 

[iRONic]

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