So I bought a tv - Sharp Aquos 32"

[UnatcoAgent]

I bought my mother a new tv for her birthday on Wednesday, a Sharp Aquos 32" to replace her literally 19 year old GE tube set. We tried to watch Beuowolf on it last night (don't ask me why) and it was near un-watchable the picture was so bad, though it could have been the tv trying to save us. This was while watching on the old CRT being replaced that it was unwatchable!

Either way, I went out today and picked this set up, $550 with the open box CDN price so really not bad at all. We don't have digital cable or anything, she has a standard DVD player, would it be worth going out and getting a blue ray player? Or will the standard DVD be ok for a while, I'm assuming it's going to look pretty good compared to an old CRT?

My mum is not someone to notice picture difference very much, though she's never really experienced crazy HD before.

 

[Quiksilver]

Define unwatchable.

 

[Spoooon]

Standard DVD should be fine. I assume it's 720p?

edit: When I bought a 26inch a couple of years ago and paid for the HD channels, it was a huge difference at the time.

 

[bapace]

what is the resolution on the TV? 720P, 1080I, 1080P?

 

[olds]

Fuck. I wish we had a forum for this.

 

[Shadow Conception]

TV probably has a shit upscaler?

 

[jpeyton]

Ouch, $550 for an open-box 32" TV?

I paid about that much for a new Samsung 50" plasma.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Fuck. I wish we had a forum for this.

You should put in a request for one.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Ouch, $550 for an open-box 32" TV?

I paid about that much for a new Samsung 50" plasma.

CDN, did you miss that?

 

[OdiN]

I think he meant the old CRT was unwatchable so that is why he got the new one.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Ouch, $550 for an open-box 32" TV?

I paid about that much for a new Samsung 50" plasma.

CDN, did you miss that?

LOL :laugh:

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Ouch, $550 for an open-box 32" TV?

I paid about that much for a new Samsung 50" plasma.

CDN, did you miss that?

LOL :laugh:

Average price for a 32" name brand LCD 720p is about $600-$700 unopened. Think we bend over $50-$100, at least, compared to the US. Apparently, our market isn't big enough to justify price parity.

OP sure set isn't bad, dud, which is why it got returned? I've seen HD sets running standard DVDs at stores before, and they didn't look bad, just not really good. I guess you're using composite video too.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Fuck. I wish we had a forum for this.

You should put in a request for one.

They never listen to me.

 

[zzuupp]

If everybody is happy with the improved picture quality, then hold off. The players will only get cheaper.
Plus, the selection and availability of the discs still has plenty of room for improvement.

 

[Shlong]

Get a PS3 (HDMI port. It upscales DVD and makes it look great + blu-ray). Get satellite (DirecTV) or cable with HD package. Since it's a pretty cheap TV I don't expect it to have a tuner so you can't pick up OTA HD channels.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Check your tv's settings. It probably has a format button somewhere. You can probably change the aspect ratio. The sometimes try to stretch the picture or change it...so at most, if the signal is only 480 lines or something, it tries to adjust it... You may have to just step it down to make it look more normal.

 

[radioouman]

Go pick up an up scaling DVD player and see if it looks better. These are pretty cheap now.

My TV doesn't do a great job scaling up standard resolution DVDs either.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Thanks for the actual advice from those of you who bothered, yes it's going to use composite for now, and when I said picture quality was unwatchable it was on the CRT that's being replaced. And no $550 for an open box is not a bad deal, this is Canada, we have maple syrup dollars remember.

As for it being a dud or not, i'm going to find that out shortly when I plug it in, here's hoping.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Fuck. I wish we had a forum for this.

We do...but nobody posts there. I'm assuming the OP wanted someone to read this so that's why he posted it here.

To the OP, yeah, the DVD player should look very good on this but regular TV won't look all that great without some HD programming.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Fuck. I wish we had a forum for this.

We do...but nobody posts there. I'm assuming the OP wanted someone to read this so that's why he posted it here.

To the OP, yeah, the DVD player should look very good on this but regular TV won't look all that great without some HD programming.

Thanks, appreciated! That's more or less what I was looking for, I never watch tv, barely play games anymore so I didn't bother looking into it too much, figured ATOT would help out

 

[Muadib]

WTF are you using composite? Did your mom abuse you when you were little?

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Ouch, $550 for an open-box 32" TV?

I paid about that much for a new Samsung 50" plasma.

CDN, did you miss that?

LOL :laugh:

Conversion rate doesn't mean jack shit to his purchase price. Purchasing power is a whole different ball game. Canadians still pay more for a lot of electronics/computer goods than we do.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Imp
Think we bend over $50-$100, at least, compared to the US. Apparently, our market isn't big enough to justify price parity.

I find that absurd, since our currencies are almost equal in value. I was just reading a story today about how Adobe will be charging people in London almost $2500 more for CS4 Suite than people in NY.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Imp
Think we bend over $50-$100, at least, compared to the US. Apparently, our market isn't big enough to justify price parity.

I find that absurd, since our currencies are almost equal in value. I was just reading a story today about how Adobe will be charging people in London almost $2500 more for CS4 Suite than people in NY.

Here are some other examples:

Eh

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: Imp

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Imp
Think we bend over $50-$100, at least, compared to the US. Apparently, our market isn't big enough to justify price parity.

I find that absurd, since our currencies are almost equal in value. I was just reading a story today about how Adobe will be charging people in London almost $2500 more for CS4 Suite than people in NY.

Here are some other examples:

Eh

Same thing happened to me when I bought my mac, it's $200 more expensive here, even buying it online.. shipped from the states.