Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[kjacobs03]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Jeff (or anyone qualified to answer),

I know this isnt a tech support thread, but I always get the best answers to questions here!

It appears that my Onkyo 606 and PS3 Slim have some annoying handshaking issues and I am thinking about replacing the receiver.

What brand and model do you recommend? I need a model that is in the power range of this model with a minimum of 4 HDMI slots, but I dont need a lot of juice since this receiver will be in my bedroom and wont go at a very high volume.

My 605 does that with my DTV receiver. I just switch HDMI imputs like He ^ said and it should fix the problem.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by aygie

My 805 does that now and again, I switch to another HDMI output and back again and then it comes up. Try it next time it does it but yeah annoying bug.

it didnt start doing that until recently. I changed HDMI cables and hopefully that will help.

[MerrickG]

[QUOTE=iwanttobeabmoviestar;3052888]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

\

No, but I wouldn't suggest you buy anything made by Vizio either.


why? they have decent reviews online on cnet and such and good user ratings from many sites . i want a larger than 50inch tv that is 3d and led backlit and vizio seems to be the only one making one . the people that saw it at CES seem pretty impressed just wondering if you saw it at CES. my price point is 3400 or abouts . thanks

Vizio's are very good for what you pay in reality. If you are family who is on a cheaper budget and wants to get decent (but not exceptional) HD quality, you cant go wrong with Vizio.

Of course if you want the best for LED/LCD, you go with Sony or Samsung.

For plasma, its Pioneer Kuro.

[Jeff Kleist]

why? they have decent reviews online on cnet and such and good user ratings from many sites . i want a larger than 50inch tv that is 3d and led backlit and vizio seems to be the only one making one . the people that saw it at CES seem pretty impressed just wondering if you saw it at CES. my price point is 3400 or abouts . thanks

Because they are notoriously unreliable with a high defect rate, causing many store employees to refer to them as "boomerangs" because they keep coming back. If rumors are to be believed, and I have only circumstantial evidence for this and have not tested it myself, they buy factory second parts rejected by the majors. The high defect rate does support this however. In addition their software is highly ineferior for motion estimation and other things that make an LCD TV workable, problems wthat will become even more glaring at 72". Finally, after 1 year they will not fix your TV if it breaks, and for something as big as 72" you're going to be screwed because they have no support and repair network to come out on it.

As far as "more affordable for families", that's simply a fallacy. Anyone can afford any TV they want, all you have to do is save longer. If you shop around, you can purchase last year's panasonic plasmas at very affordable prices virtually year round, and many LCD models. And having a TV that can be fixed is a much better long term investment IMO. If you want to go 72", my suggestion is to pick up a Panasonic 3000 projector which can be had for around $12-1400 right now on clearance. Then you can go 100+, and probably with better quality to boot

[iwanttobeabmoviestar]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Because they are notoriously unreliable with a high defect rate, causing many store employees to refer to them as "boomerangs" because they keep coming back. If rumors are to be believed, and I have only circumstantial evidence for this and have not tested it myself, they buy factory second parts rejected by the majors. The high defect rate does support this however. In addition their software is highly ineferior for motion estimation and other things that make an LCD TV workable, problems wthat will become even more glaring at 72". Finally, after 1 year they will not fix your TV if it breaks, and for something as big as 72" you're going to be screwed because they have no support and repair network to come out on it.

As far as "more affordable for families", that's simply a fallacy. Anyone can afford any TV they want, all you have to do is save longer. If you shop around, you can purchase last year's panasonic plasmas at very affordable prices virtually year round, and many LCD models. And having a TV that can be fixed is a much better long term investment IMO. If you want to go 72", my suggestion is to pick up a Panasonic 3000 projector which can be had for around $12-1400 right now on clearance. Then you can go 100+, and probably with better quality to boot

the problem is i want 3d as i can only get a tv every 8-10 yrs and mine is dying (81/2 yr old panasonic rear projection tv) i only have a limited amount to work with and want to semi -future proof ie 3d internet ect . i saw on vanns some samsung plasmas that are for pre order that are 3d and larger . what do you suggest between say a 55inch led edgelit samsung (the 7000 or 8000) or a samsung plasma say 60-68 inch both are 3d both have internet i appreciate your input as i have invested in blu ray since begining based on your websites knowledge.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Because they are notoriously unreliable with a high defect rate, causing many store employees to refer to them as "boomerangs" because they keep coming back. If rumors are to be believed, and I have only circumstantial evidence for this and have not tested it myself, they buy factory second parts rejected by the majors. The high defect rate does support this however. In addition their software is highly ineferior for motion estimation and other things that make an LCD TV workable, problems wthat will become even more glaring at 72". Finally, after 1 year they will not fix your TV if it breaks, and for something as big as 72" you're going to be screwed because they have no support and repair network to come out on it.

As far as "more affordable for families", that's simply a fallacy. Anyone can afford any TV they want, all you have to do is save longer. If you shop around, you can purchase last year's panasonic plasmas at very affordable prices virtually year round, and many LCD models. And having a TV that can be fixed is a much better long term investment IMO. If you want to go 72", my suggestion is to pick up a Panasonic 3000 projector which can be had for around $12-1400 right now on clearance. Then you can go 100+, and probably with better quality to boot

Didnt know that. New advice: Stay away from Vizio.

[aygie]

Jeff I posted this in Penton's thread but thought I'd see what you think too...

https://forum.blu-ray.com/3054580-post12755.html

[DaViD Boulet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Because they are notoriously unreliable with a high defect rate, causing many store employees to refer to them as "boomerangs" because they keep coming back. If rumors are to be believed, and I have only circumstantial evidence for this and have not tested it myself, they buy factory second parts rejected by the majors. The high defect rate does support this however. In addition their software is highly ineferior for motion estimation and other things that make an LCD TV workable, problems wthat will become even more glaring at 72". Finally, after 1 year they will not fix your TV if it breaks, and for something as big as 72" you're going to be screwed because they have no support and repair network to come out on it.

As far as "more affordable for families", that's simply a fallacy. Anyone can afford any TV they want, all you have to do is save longer. If you shop around, you can purchase last year's panasonic plasmas at very affordable prices virtually year round, and many LCD models. And having a TV that can be fixed is a much better long term investment IMO. If you want to go 72", my suggestion is to pick up a Panasonic 3000 projector which can be had for around $12-1400 right now on clearance. Then you can go 100+, and probably with better quality to boot

This was a very accurate description of VIZIO a few years ago. However, in the last couple of years they've made great strides to improve quality (build and image quality and reliability and are now generally a very good bargin.

[Jeff Kleist]

I haven't seen the Move demo, honestly I think both Move and Natal are probably going to be pretty solid, it's up to the software to make them more than a gimmick, and may they have more success than Nintendo has

This was a very accurate description of VIZIO a few years ago. However, in the last couple of years they've made great strides to improve quality (build and image quality and reliability and are now generally a very good bargin.

You can't make bargain TVs at those prices without cutting corners, and they still can't be fixed. However they're cutting corners now, I still highly recommend you stay away from them. I would recommmend Samsung LCDs over plasmas in my experience

I just had a preview of an unreleased film here in Tokyo, sorry I'm not at liberty to divulge its identity, but i did get permission to post a picture of the rig we watched it on, which still includes a super high end champagne colored Pioneer LD player I'll put it up when I have time to offload the camera, sleep now

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I haven't seen the Move demo, honestly I think both Move and Natal are probably going to be pretty solid, it's up to the software to make them more than a gimmick, and may they have more success than Nintendo has



You can't make bargain TVs at those prices without cutting corners, and they still can't be fixed. However they're cutting corners now, I still highly recommend you stay away from them. I would recommmend Samsung LCDs over plasmas in my experience

I just had a preview of an unreleased film here in Tokyo, sorry I'm not at liberty to divulge its identity, but i did get permission to post a picture of the rig we watched it on, which still includes a super high end champagne colored Pioneer LD player I'll put it up when I have time to offload the camera, sleep now

Samsung and Sony typically trade places for the top LCD according to most reviewers.

Jeff, any recommendations for a receiver to replace my Onkyo 606 Im being driven CRAZY by the handshaking issues between it and my PS3 Slim. This receiver is going in my bedroom so high wattage is hardly a requirement and it needs to have lossless decoding.

[iwanttobeabmoviestar]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I haven't seen the Move demo, honestly I think both Move and Natal are probably going to be pretty solid, it's up to the software to make them more than a gimmick, and may they have more success than Nintendo has



You can't make bargain TVs at those prices without cutting corners, and they still can't be fixed. However they're cutting corners now, I still highly recommend you stay away from them. I would recommmend Samsung LCDs over plasmas in my experience

I just had a preview of an unreleased film here in Tokyo, sorry I'm not at liberty to divulge its identity, but i did get permission to post a picture of the rig we watched it on, which still includes a super high end champagne colored Pioneer LD player I'll put it up when I have time to offload the camera, sleep now

ive been reading that one of their bigger cost cutting measures is the reuse of the cases for the tvs ? which does not matter to me if its 1 inch or 3 inches thick . alot of companies redo their cases every year because of race to thinnest tv at added cost so it makes sense to me to reuse = cutting cost= passed savings to custumer . the cnet review of the 55 inch led from last year actually says the vizio got better blacks than alot of plasmas and that the color after tweeking was very good. as for long term reliability what would be wrong with an extended 4yr warranty to cover any bad customer service vizio might have ?

its just hard to believe that cnet , endgadget, and a few other "pro" sites give them a good review , and the customer reviews are high , but yet their is so much hate for them. i read a thread on here that samsungs have a bunch of reliability issues as well as sonys . they say there is a 3-5 % failure rate average among most companies . the new models have alot of good things said by the companies that make the 3d glasses for alot of makers xpand and the company that puts the 2d to 3d conversion tech in the big name brands too. so if they are using the same companies and parts for those things as sony and samsung then whos to say they are not using "good" parts now on the rest. Just want to see reviews on it before i make any decisions. thanks for lettting me rant

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by iwanttobeabmoviestar

ive been reading that one of their bigger cost cutting measures is the reuse of the cases for the tvs ? which does not matter to me if its 1 inch or 3 inches thick . alot of companies redo their cases every year because of race to thinnest tv at added cost so it makes sense to me to reuse = cutting cost= passed savings to custumer . the cnet review of the 55 inch led from last year actually says the vizio got better blacks than alot of plasmas and that the color after tweeking was very good. as for long term reliability what would be wrong with an extended 4yr warranty to cover any bad customer service vizio might have ?

its just hard to believe that cnet , endgadget, and a few other "pro" sites give them a good review , and the customer reviews are high , but yet their is so much hate for them. i read a thread on here that samsungs have a bunch of reliability issues as well as sonys . they say there is a 3-5 % failure rate average among most companies . the new models have alot of good things said by the companies that make the 3d glasses for alot of makers xpand and the company that puts the 2d to 3d conversion tech in the big name brands too. so if they are using the same companies and parts for those things as sony and samsung then whos to say they are not using "good" parts now on the rest. Just want to see reviews on it before i make any decisions. thanks for lettting me rant

the problem with reviews is that they often review them over a couple of days, which obviously makes it impossible to examine how well the TV will hold up over time and if you're spending several thousand $$$ you kind of want it to last.

[iwanttobeabmoviestar]

Originally Posted by merrick97

the problem with reviews is that they often review them over a couple of days, which obviously makes it impossible to examine how well the TV will hold up over time and if you're spending several thousand $$$ you kind of want it to last.

which brings me back to extended warranties i know a lot of places now give you half back of the purchase of the warranty if not used in the 4 yrs so if the tvs long term reliability is the issue warranties usually solve that. i know from experience that alot of warranties are never used , and when investing in new tech that has not been on the market for years, its a crap shoot on 1st gen vs
2nd 3rd ect look at ps3 the 1st gen has abilitys that were cut fron 2nd and 3rd gen models and the failure rates are the same percentage. like before i read samsung , sony, and all the "high market" tvs have a similiar failure rate. warranties help (for me) to ease about longivity and worry more about if the repairs are covered and quality of set on day one to 365 ( manf warranty period) i just like to research things and appreciate these discusions on here

[Jeff Kleist]

I've never found the TV reviews on those sights to be worth a lot personally. They're reviewing for Joe6pack.

Extended warranties are often very expensive and either pay off big of not at all. I'm being very serious that you'll be happie with a 60 inch TV of a better brand in the long run. If you want to buy a 3D TV, waiting till end of model year isn't going to hurt you, it'll save you lots of money too, and as with any new tech, waiting till next year's models probably isn't a tragedy, an there will be a lot more software by then

I'm partial to pioneer receivers, and the new ones have HDMI 1.4 on them. YMMV

[iwanttobeabmoviestar]

but some people even here swear by them and consumer reports which is usually even worse about tech reviews so i was just trying to make a point btw im not joe six pack im more robert keg but im not fortunate enough to have the income for great equipment so thats why im debating this so much and warranties are usually sold by price of tv so like amazon has a warranty for like 250 for something like the vizio 72 for 3yrs . 1 service call would eat that quick

also can only wait at most till about aug sept as my tv is slowly withering and dying

[Jeff Kleist]

You can buy a $10,000 TV if you want. Just sock away the cash at a pace you can afford. Patience young Jedi No 72" TV is going to run less than $2500, and if it does, run in the other direction as fast as you can You can find 3D Ready 65" mitsubishi DLPs that are great sets for under $15 BTW, and I think they even have 70+ below 2K. Check amazon. It's not 1080p 3D, but it'll work

I saved for 3 years before i bought my TV

[iwanttobeabmoviestar]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

You can buy a $10,000 TV if you want. Just sock away the cash at a pace you can afford. Patience young Jedi No 72" TV is going to run less than $2500, and if it does, run in the other direction as fast as you can You can find 3D Ready 65" mitsubishi DLPs that are great sets for under $15 BTW, and I think they even have 70+ below 2K. Check amazon. It's not 1080p 3D, but it'll work

I saved for 3 years before i bought my TV

the 72 inch vizio says 3499 in press release thats a good price point for me ive been waiting almost 9/12 years for a tv and want to finally watch my blus in proper 1080p so ive been patient and its driving me bonkers and its 3d lol

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, like I said, you get what you pay for. That last 20 inches typically runs far more than that. I seriously recommend you wait and check out the 3D projectors coming later in the year if you have that kind of cash to burn. Then you can goo 100"+ and probably for less money

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I've never found the TV reviews on those sights to be worth a lot personally. They're reviewing for Joe6pack.

agree, except I would say reviewed/written by J6P more then for them. I think they are a bit interesting for shows and PRs that come their way (starting point for what is new on the horrizon), but past that they are completely useless and none of them seem to have people on staff that know anything about AV or what they are taalking about.

A particular example is the 3D LG projector shown at CES, some reviews of the show/product said it used polarized glasses others shutter. I still don't know what it is they use because any one of them could be wrong and I don't know anyone who's judgment I trust to tell me what they actualy saw (used).

[HeavyHitter]

Not to sound like a plug, but the best person to ask about TV PQ quality is a full-time, traveling, reputable ISF calibrator who has years of experience. There are several very good ones out there. Mine is Chad Billheimer. I never rely on the publications or sites.