Randy, unaware of our shenanigans, sees the new TV we just moved and says...
..."wow, that's a big box."
Hell, yeah, it's a big box. About 200 fucking pounds. It's a Sony (yeah, laugh it up at the irony) KD34XBR970 34" 1080i dual-tube CRT HDTV. Most everybody at Best Buy gave me guff about buying the beast, mostly due to size and weight and that I could get a larger flat-panel for not too much more. My retaliation is that to get a flat-panel (regardless of display type) with the same picture quality would require me to spend well upwards of two grand.
After many instances of Mike losing miscellaneous scraps of my paperwork and having to wait for the inventory guy to reappear to pull down the monster from the third tier in the warehouse, we get it to the apartment and Steve, Guy, and I have a fun and exciting time lugging it up the stairwell.
First impression is the the SD picture quality isn't as good as my LG I'm replacing. Also, neither using a diplexer nor a splitter allow me to have both cable and antenna plugged in at the same time (more on that later). Then we fired up the video game systems and PC and holy hell, it's amazing. No more blurring around the edges; crisp throughout. I also set the PC to output 1080i and though window borders still flicker, the text is much more legible and the display doesn't give you a headache just looking at it.
Being a Sony product (regardless if it's a high-end CRT, one of the few quality things Sony makes), it has to have some infuriating drawbacks. Primary of which being that it does not have two RF inputs--one for antenna, one for cable--instead having one; they recommend you use an A-B switch (like a splitter but with a toggle) then require you to manually select whether or not you're using cable from within the TV's setup menu. Thus switching between HD over-the-air and regular cable is a pain. Second issue is that the HDMI input only has audio inputs in the form of stereo RCA plugs instead of an optical input. So that makes my DVI-to-HDMI converted PC connection only a stereo audio source and no longer in surround sound. Next, the TV outputs audio through either stereo RCA or digital coaxial, but does not combine audio output through a single output. Then the antenna signal strength indicator is also buried in the system menu.
The problem is that all of the above issues are only a problem considering that the LG spoiled me by not having any of these issues. However, all of these issues can be fixed by upgrading to a more capable receiver and by getting a cable box. So does the picture quality upgrade balance out with the problems after paying for the upgrade? Maybe. But at least the issues with this set will be addressed readily once I move into somewhere more permanent.
...Of course that requires moving this thing all over again...
So the next concern is do I buy the 4-year service plan. The included warranty is 2 years for both parts and labor, but of course does not cover power surges (though any respectable surge protector has a warranty that covers cost of the unit). So let's say that my unit does fail within 4-years and it is deemed unrepairable. At Best Buy, we then offer a replacement (of possibly a different brand) with equivalent or better capability (not something of the same price paid, due to the declining price of technology). I bought a CRT specifically for proven picture quality. Will there still be HD CRT's sold even by the end of the year? I seriously doubt it, which is why I jumped on this deal right now. This model is discontinued, and if I checked the computer at Best Buy, I'd see the same thing for the other sets. I still believe I'd need to pay quite a lot for a good replacement four years from now. And I think the upcoming CRT-quality, flat-panel-size SED technology will still be quite expensive considering it's not yet finalized as of now.
Hell, yeah, it's a big box. About 200 fucking pounds. It's a Sony (yeah, laugh it up at the irony) KD34XBR970 34" 1080i dual-tube CRT HDTV. Most everybody at Best Buy gave me guff about buying the beast, mostly due to size and weight and that I could get a larger flat-panel for not too much more. My retaliation is that to get a flat-panel (regardless of display type) with the same picture quality would require me to spend well upwards of two grand.
After many instances of Mike losing miscellaneous scraps of my paperwork and having to wait for the inventory guy to reappear to pull down the monster from the third tier in the warehouse, we get it to the apartment and Steve, Guy, and I have a fun and exciting time lugging it up the stairwell.
First impression is the the SD picture quality isn't as good as my LG I'm replacing. Also, neither using a diplexer nor a splitter allow me to have both cable and antenna plugged in at the same time (more on that later). Then we fired up the video game systems and PC and holy hell, it's amazing. No more blurring around the edges; crisp throughout. I also set the PC to output 1080i and though window borders still flicker, the text is much more legible and the display doesn't give you a headache just looking at it.
Being a Sony product (regardless if it's a high-end CRT, one of the few quality things Sony makes), it has to have some infuriating drawbacks. Primary of which being that it does not have two RF inputs--one for antenna, one for cable--instead having one; they recommend you use an A-B switch (like a splitter but with a toggle) then require you to manually select whether or not you're using cable from within the TV's setup menu. Thus switching between HD over-the-air and regular cable is a pain. Second issue is that the HDMI input only has audio inputs in the form of stereo RCA plugs instead of an optical input. So that makes my DVI-to-HDMI converted PC connection only a stereo audio source and no longer in surround sound. Next, the TV outputs audio through either stereo RCA or digital coaxial, but does not combine audio output through a single output. Then the antenna signal strength indicator is also buried in the system menu.
The problem is that all of the above issues are only a problem considering that the LG spoiled me by not having any of these issues. However, all of these issues can be fixed by upgrading to a more capable receiver and by getting a cable box. So does the picture quality upgrade balance out with the problems after paying for the upgrade? Maybe. But at least the issues with this set will be addressed readily once I move into somewhere more permanent.
...Of course that requires moving this thing all over again...
So the next concern is do I buy the 4-year service plan. The included warranty is 2 years for both parts and labor, but of course does not cover power surges (though any respectable surge protector has a warranty that covers cost of the unit). So let's say that my unit does fail within 4-years and it is deemed unrepairable. At Best Buy, we then offer a replacement (of possibly a different brand) with equivalent or better capability (not something of the same price paid, due to the declining price of technology). I bought a CRT specifically for proven picture quality. Will there still be HD CRT's sold even by the end of the year? I seriously doubt it, which is why I jumped on this deal right now. This model is discontinued, and if I checked the computer at Best Buy, I'd see the same thing for the other sets. I still believe I'd need to pay quite a lot for a good replacement four years from now. And I think the upcoming CRT-quality, flat-panel-size SED technology will still be quite expensive considering it's not yet finalized as of now.