Did I use my television dollar wisely?

[mithrandir2001]

A local independent retailer is currently having a model year-end clearance and Pansonic's larger Tau sets are included in the sale. After spending an hour or so in the store, I ended up buying a CT-36SX12, which is a 36" flat-screen analog Tau set, for $799. The same set one year ago sold for $1399. They also extend the warranty a gratis to 2 years parts and labor.

$800 for a huge flat-screen TV seemed like a offer too hard to pass up, even if it is not HDTV-compatible. I already have a 27" Tau and it's a beauty but it's simply too small for DVD viewing, thus my impulsive purchase for more screen real-estate. I really wanted the Panny 34" 16:9 high-def set they had on sale at $1599 but I just think that's too much for a television set...in a few years I expect these 34" widescreen sets to break the $1000 barrier. It sure was purrrrty when they fed it a 1080i source. But when you consider that DVD is still a NTSC-based format, I'm not sure it's time to take the HDTV plunge. Next time around.

They also had the CT-32SX12, which is the 32" model, for the hot price of $599. It just wasn't big enough though. 😀

I think I got my dollar's worth. Agree? Disagree?

 

[CrazyPerson]

a dollar cant by me a beer
:beer::beer::beer::beer:

 

[Spac3d]

If you are happy with what you got, isn't that all that matters?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Spac3d
If you are happy with what you got, isn't that all that matters?

True, that.

But...I'd have gotten this for the same price 😛

 

[mithrandir2001]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Spac3d
If you are happy with what you got, isn't that all that matters?

True, that.

But...I'd have gotten this for the same price 😛

I considered a 30" 16:9 but they are just too small. They display regular programming as a 24" TV would. A 36" NTSC TV displays 4:3 programming 116% larger and widescreen material 22% larger. Real estate (as long as it is high-quality) is more important to me than future readiness...and do you think a 30" widescreen TV is really large enough to highlight the benefits of progressive-scan DVD? I don't think so.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: mithrandir2001

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Spac3d
If you are happy with what you got, isn't that all that matters?

True, that.

But...I'd have gotten this for the same price 😛

I considered a 30" 16:9 but they are just too small. They display regular programming as a 24" TV would. A 36" NTSC TV displays 4:3 programming 116% larger and widescreen material 22% larger. Real estate (as long as it is high-quality) is more important to me than future readiness...and do you think a 30" widescreen TV is really large enough to highlight the benefits of progressive-scan DVD? I don't think so.

I used to watch widescreen DVDs on a 27" 4:3 set (with manual vertical height control so I had the DVD player set for 16:9 TV). I am seriously considering that 30" 16:9 for my bedroom once I finish a side programming job. 🙂

 

[mithrandir2001]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: mithrandir2001

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Spac3d
If you are happy with what you got, isn't that all that matters?

True, that.

But...I'd have gotten this for the same price 😛

I considered a 30" 16:9 but they are just too small. They display regular programming as a 24" TV would. A 36" NTSC TV displays 4:3 programming 116% larger and widescreen material 22% larger. Real estate (as long as it is high-quality) is more important to me than future readiness...and do you think a 30" widescreen TV is really large enough to highlight the benefits of progressive-scan DVD? I don't think so.

I used to watch widescreen DVDs on a 27" 4:3 set (with manual vertical height control so I had the DVD player set for 16:9 TV). I am seriously considering that 30" 16:9 for my bedroom once I finish a side programming job. 🙂

Ah, I forgot a big reason why I didn't go with a 30" 16:9: Digital TVs render regular analog programming like crap. I've yet to see a DTV that shows NTSC material without excessive unnatural pixelation and heightened contrast. If DTVs improved upon analog TVs when displaying analog material, it would be a no-brainer but since DTVs are optimized only for less-than-available pure digital signals (even progressive-scan DVD is a "hack") they simply aren't a good choice for the mainstream buyer. I don't want to pay a large premium for being an early adopter.