OT: Direct TV / DVR / DVD/ Home Theater Thread

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:06 am

Sport73 wrote:Jack,
2 Things.

1. Order a bulb from a place that takes returns. You could try it to see if it solves the problem and send it back if it doesn't work. Many sites accept returns due to the likelihood that people will order the wrong bulb. I can't recommend one, but I know a coworker did this...Worth a shot.

Most of them charge a 15% restocking fee, which would be $30 just to find out. I think I am going to pay the $99 to have a Sony tech come out and tell me what's wrong. That way I will have an explanation in writing of what needs fixing, so I can resell the TV to someone who won't mind fixing the problem. Otherwise I will be stuck with a broken TV that noone will want to buy from me.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:01 am

I cannot understand all the hoopla with plasma and burn-in these days. Manufacturers (especially quality manufacturers like Panasonic and Pioneer) have gone to great lengths to virtually eliminate issues like burn-in, unless you purposely try to burn in an image by leaving a DVD menu on for weeks, or something. Also, this year's series of Panasonic plasmas have an increased lifespan of up to 100K hours, which was previously only available on their 1080p plasmas last year.

If you're gaming, I'd much rather go with the smooth image of plasma, rather than attempt to pay a ridiculous premium for an LCD which still does not equal a plasma in response times, much less basic image quality.

I myself cannot get into plasma because I live in an apartment and thus am prone to tons of light getting into just about every room (save for maybe the bathroom). If it wasn't for that, then I'd probably jump into some sweet plasma action for gaming. The quality difference in gaming is obvious when I switch from my friend's Panasonic 42" plasma from a couple years back and my Sony 32" XBR which was released in the same model year, especially when it comes to motion.

It just seems like sometimes I feel like I've walked into a Sony Store when I see some posts on plasma in this forum. I understand that the market is heavily shifting towards LCD and other similar tech, but I think that a lot of that has to do with there being little work on the customer's end to ensure that they get a high quality picture and set-up (not worrying about the light in an room, etc.).

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:32 pm

I've had a Panny plasma for nearly three years and have never had any burn-in problems with it. I think a lot of people get image retention confused with permanent burn-in and freak out. I absolutely love the set am still impressed with the picture.

Having said that, I think LCD has just about closed the gap. The 120Hz 1080p models are really nice, and the refresh rates are eliminating the blur issues (or vastly reducing them).

Under ideal conditions, I think a 1080p plasma is still a bit better. But in an more realistic setting, where you usually get ambient light and want to watch 4:3 programming without having to stretch out of burn-in concerns, I think I'd go with LCD now.

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:57 pm

Bear in mind that what causes 'burn in' is uneven aging of the phosphors. Phosphors AGE, and lose brightness over time. A Plasma set will be half as bright in 5-7 years of heavy use from the day it was purchased.

LCD's use florescent backlighting, or even LED's, which stay relatively even in brightness until they just 'die'. So,your quality of picture (not accounting for glare) for an LCD is better over the long term, though an LCD will one day DIE while a Plasma will simply fade away.

In addition, Plasma gases can 'leak' from a cell over time, leading to dead pixels. Since LCD's rely on the physical characteristics of liquid crystal responding to electrical charge, it needs only a reliable electric signal. These tend to fail from the factory, so the dead pixels you have at purchase are likely the ones you'll have throughout the life of the set.

I still recommend Plasma for some people, I'm not a Sony rep, I'm just telling it like it is.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:47 pm

oy, here's goes plasma v lcd. Like I said before, ignore all this & just go for the best deal.

You'll never notice "half brightness" of plasma, you'll never notice the weak black levels of a lcd, you'll have to get eyeball to eyeball to notice 'dead pixels' and your family won't die in their sleep from a plasma leak....

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:02 pm

greggsand wrote:oy, here's goes plasma v lcd. Like I said before, ignore all this & just go for the best deal.

You'll never notice "half brightness" of plasma, you'll never notice the weak black levels of a lcd, you'll have to get eyeball to eyeball to notice 'dead pixels' and your family won't die in their sleep from a plasma leak....

You will definitely notice the black levels on an LCD if they are not good. Maybe not during the day, but if you watch movies in low light at night you will. Luckily they have gotten a lot better, but I think you have to shop more smartly for LCDs than plasma -- there's a greater variance in set quality.

Also, plasma half-life is a lot higher than 5-7 years now. Most manufacturers have 60,000 hour half-life, and the new Panny 1080p sets have 100,000 hour half-lives. It's a moot issue for the sets people are buying now and most sets that came out in the last few years.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:16 pm

Brando:

Even Panny 720p sets have 100K hours of life on them (starting with the new 2008 models, which I just displayed a couple of the other day).

I wasn't trying to start a debate, but with the response that plasma gets in here, I wouldn't be surprised if people were seriously afraid of buying a plasma.

That said, I am very impressed with the LCDs from Sony, Samsung, and Sharp over the last couple of years. They've really made some major strides. My 40" 1080p Sony should be here anyday, so I'm pretty pumped for that. Anybody have a V3000 series Bravia?

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:58 pm

According to the a customer service rep I spoke with at Directv today, Tivo and Directv are partnering up once again sometime around the third quarter of this year. A new Tivo Directv HD DVR should be debuting this year. I was thinking of upgrading to a Directv HD DVR for our bedroom, but I think I'm going to wait. $200 is a bit much too spend for most likely a lesser quality DVR. I loved my old Tivo. That said, I'm still quite content with the Directv HD DVR we have in our basement.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:30 am

sportdan30 wrote:According to the a customer service rep I spoke with at Directv today, Tivo and Directv are partnering up once again sometime around the third quarter of this year. A new Tivo Directv HD DVR should be debuting this year. I was thinking of upgrading to a Directv HD DVR for our bedroom, but I think I'm going to wait. $200 is a bit much too spend for most likely a lesser quality DVR. I loved my old Tivo. That said, I'm still quite content with the Directv HD DVR we have in our basement.

Yeah, they've been rumored to be getting back into bed with Tivo. No biggie...I'm in the camp that just buys what's current. I have three of the DirecTV HD DVRs and they've been fine for me.

They look especially nice on the new Vizio 55" LCD I bought today...lol. Fantastic TV btw if anyone is looking.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:19 pm

So did DTV ever get the single wire multiswitch technology that was discussed earlier in this thread? I finally gave up and went with Verizon Fios (which I'm utterly amazed with in every way compared to Comcast) when it became available in my area, but it would be nice to know as DTV is still the only way I can get Fox Sports Pittsburgh here.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:46 pm

Leebo33 wrote:So did DTV ever get the single wire multiswitch technology that was discussed earlier in this thread? I finally gave up and went with Verizon Fios (which I'm utterly amazed with in every way compared to Comcast) when it became available in my area, but it would be nice to know as DTV is still the only way I can get Fox Sports Pittsburgh here.

Yeah, a while ago at least in my area. My parents got an install done earlier last year and got the single wire install to all dual tuner DVR's.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:07 pm

Yeah, it's in So. Cal too now. I know a few people that have had one installed.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:42 pm

Cool feature for us Directv subscribers. I didn't know this feature existed. Great for sports fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RObm3JaIxrE

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:58 pm

MLB Extra Innings is having a mid-season free preview July 16 - 22, 2009 on most providers.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:46 pm

Dish Network is having a free preview of Setanta Sports August 19 - 26, 2009 on channel 406. Setanta Sports USA offers extensive European soccer coverage to U.S. homes featuring LIVE English Premier League, Scottish League, Champions League, UEFA Cup, World Cup qualifiers and more.

Dish Network is having yet another free preview of Tennis Channel August 26 - September 16, 2009.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:46 pm

Leebo33 wrote:So did DTV ever get the single wire multiswitch technology that was discussed earlier in this thread? I finally gave up and went with Verizon Fios (which I'm utterly amazed with in every way compared to Comcast) when it became available in my area, but it would be nice to know as DTV is still the only way I can get Fox Sports Pittsburgh here.

anyone know the answer to the above question???

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:59 pm

Yes...at my new house, I got the single wire multiswitch installed. However, the only thing that it prevents is needing 2 lines to each receiver. Fios I believe you can use one receiver and watch that receiver on multiple TVs.

With directv, you still need one receiver in each room, but instead of having to run multiple lines to each receiver (for dual tuner mode), you only need one (utilizing existing cable). It makes the install a lot cleaner since there is only one line going to each receiver, yet you can still use the two tuners.

The Fios solution is better overall, but like Leebo said, DirecTV has quite a few exclusives, so I stick with them.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:18 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Yes...at my new house, I got the single wire multiswitch installed. However, the only thing that it prevents is needing 2 lines to each receiver. Fios I believe you can use one receiver and watch that receiver on multiple TVs.

With directv, you still need one receiver in each room, but instead of having to run multiple lines to each receiver (for dual tuner mode), you only need one (utilizing existing cable). It makes the install a lot cleaner since there is only one line going to each receiver, yet you can still use the two tuners.

The Fios solution is better overall, but like Leebo said, DirecTV has quite a few exclusives, so I stick with them.

I may be confused, but I am looking for a way to record 2 different programs at the same time without having 2 separate cables coming into the house. My receiver has 2 lines in, but I only have one cable coming from the dish. Currently, I can only do 2 channels at once if one of them is a local.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:52 pm

Yes, you are confused.

With the single wire multi-switch, you can have ONE direcTV line going to your receiver and you can watch/record 2 direcTV programs at one time. You are doing it differently, using one dircTV tuner and one antenna tuner.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:14 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Yes, you are confused.

With the single wire multi-switch, you can have ONE direcTV line going to your receiver and you can watch/record 2 direcTV programs at one time. You are doing it differently, using one dircTV tuner and one antenna tuner.

So how do I get this multi switch? Can I just buy one from Direct TV?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:44 pm

JackB1 wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:Yes, you are confused.

With the single wire multi-switch, you can have ONE direcTV line going to your receiver and you can watch/record 2 direcTV programs at one time. You are doing it differently, using one dircTV tuner and one antenna tuner.
So how do I get this multi switch? Can I just buy one from Direct TV?

Gotta call em and have them install it. It isn't cheap. I had to pay for it even on a brand new install...130 bucks. Then again, I got the credit back when I complained that my dad didn't have to pay for it when he had his house hooked up and installed. He was a new customer though and I was existing just moving locations. So that could have been part of the issue.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:53 pm

Customers used to threaten to cancel the service to get new gear for minimal price, including installation.

If you don't have contractual obligations, you can ask for the retention dept.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:18 pm

wco81 wrote:Customers used to threaten to cancel the service to get new gear for minimal price, including installation.

If you don't have contractual obligations, you can ask for the retention dept.

The only problem is that this device is completely optional. They can always run a second line for you. So basically, they've got you by the nuts.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:15 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:.....So basically, they've got you by the nuts.

I hate it when that happens!

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:32 pm

Doesn't hurt to try.

If you finished your contract, call and say Comcast or FIOS or Uverse or whatever other competitor can get dual-tuner recording.

You have more leverage the more packages you subscribe to, like HBO, Showtime. You're golden if you do the Sunday Ticket every year. DirectTV doesn't want to lose those customers.

Maybe they only offer to run another line for you. Or maybe they may you pay a couple of hundred but give you a year of HBO free or something like that, which offsets over $120.