G'day everyone, just wanted to wish you all a BELATED Happy New Years. I would've done it earlier, but I went on a whirlwind trip of Japan (to see my girlfriend), Manila and Sydney. I would've loved to catch up with TDC, Dave, Harks and the rest of the crew in Sydders but unfortunately I didn't have a phone (since I'm on prepaid T-Mobile here in the US the muppets don't allow you to have global roaming) and I was too busy making up for lost time with Taz to get on the internet. [img]graemlins/showoff.gif[/img]

Anyway hope you lot all had a good one. I was in Sydney for NYE - geez it was bloody hot the next day, 48 degrees C or something, I think that's something like 110 F? Then I came back to Boston and it was 26 F (-5 or something)!! [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

I also had a question...does anyone know if there are some basic home theatre systems (reasonably priced) that play mp3s? Either with a HD in them or with a USB port that you can plug an mp3 player in?

Welcome back, Mems! Happy New Year, to you too!
Glad to hear you had a good trip, if a bit whirlwind!

What do you consider reasonably priced mate ? I've been looking around on the web, and there's plenty of stuff available that should satisfy your needs, the pricetags are very random however, so it's up to you. Check Sony's site to get a basic idea.

Happy belated new year to you too btw. :D

I also think Bose is a good way to go. ;)

My Father in-law bought one and it sure is nice. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Dam right happy New year. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-13-2006, 07:03 PM: Message edited by: Mack_Attack ]

Well, since I don't know how long I'll be here in Boston, my budget is pretty small - below $1000. I really just want to be able to do this:

1. have a cheap but decent home theatre system to use with my TV and DVD player
2. be able to plug in my mp3 player for use with the home theatre system

That's basically it.

How about hooking your MP3 player up to an FM transmitter?

A quick google also turned up these links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=172282

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....cat67900050002

Sounds like there are a number of units as low as a couple of hundred to as high as several grand.

Thanks mate. That Amazon one looks like what I'm looking for, the Denon one may be a bit over my budget. I'm looking to spend $1000 or thereabouts on a new LCD TV as well as a basic home theatre system. I'm living in a 1BR apartment and am hardly ever home so an expensive system will be a bit of overkill.

I've decided that my 20" flatscreen CRT is just too big and clunky, so I've decided to sell it on eBay and replace it with a 20" LCD. I realise I'll have a drop in picture quality but I'd rather have the smaller form of the LCD. Does anyone know how much the quality is going to drop with an LCD? I realise that this is a function of the resolution, but I've been watching DVDs on my 19" Samsung 8ms analog TFT-LCD and when I use fullscreen it's definitely "fuzzier" than on my 20" CRT TV. Any ideas as to why?

And a final question - I have a Comcast digital cable box that the Comcast bloke programmed and sorted out for me when I moved in. It's connected to my TV via a coax cable. If I get a new LCD I just need to plug the coax in to it right? No need to frig around with the settings and all that?

Cheers! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hey there Memnoch, happy new year to you to!

Denon is a brilliant make for home cinema system goods, although as you've said, they tend to make pricier models (got a spare 5 grand guys? :D ) but check if they have anything cheaper, as they are good quality - the systems Bungleau listed would be very good I'd imagine. For $1000 at any rate you should be able to build your own system, which is better than the standarad 5.1 systems etc. that come with a DVD player. Seriously consider Denon - it's worth the extra.

As for your monitor, you won't notice any drop in quality. LCD's aren't half bad these days, if you're going 20" you'd probably be best picking up at DELL 2005FPW. They are generally cheaper than the competition and gorgeous. You'l never look back ;) Also, as to resolution, with a 20" LCD you can get up to 1600x1200 (19"'s don't go above 1280x1024) so you'l get that big resolution back.

The Samsung you have shouldn't have a problem playing DVDs, is the resolution smaller? (Most likely). I don't notice any difference in DVD quality between my 32" widescreen and my 19" LG LCD (although I might answer in a few weeks when I have my 40" HDTV LCD) :D

And yes, you should be able to simply plug your cable box in, no problemo.

What type of TV are you going for? Are you thinking LCD or HDTV LCD?

G'day Ross. I just wanted to clarify that I'm planning to replace a 20" CRT television with a 20" LCD (or even a 26" if I can find a good one). It has to be widescreen though. I’m prepared to spend around $700 or so on it. Was that what you meant when you said the above? I thought that LCD TVs had a lower resolution than PC monitors?

As for the DVD problem, my 19” Samsung monitor has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 but DVDs are definitely “fuzzy” if I watch them widescreen using WinDVD – should I change the resolution or something? They’re not back, but the images have soft edges. The resolution clears up a lot when I make the window size smaller and not watch it widescreen. Does this make sense?

Help!! :eek:

Ah, sorry I got you wrong, thought you were talking about a PC monitor there. LCD TV's do have a lower resolution than PC monitors, but much higher than CRT TVs. If you can afford it get an HDTV flat panel as opposed to a standard LCD, as they are so much better.

Not sure where you buy things in America, but a quick check on Amazon and I found this. I realise it is out of the $700 budget, but you might be able to source it cheaper somewhere else, and it is a brilliant screen, much recommended! If you can't afford that one, look around, there should be plenty choice!

It shouldn't be a problem with an 8ms response time (although response time doesn't in-fact mean an awful lot, the Samsung panel you have is a good screen). I get what you are saying, is it mostly dark colours around the edge? Might be a bit of bleeding. Have you tried fiddling with the monitor settings? (and also check out settings on windows).

Also, you could try power DVD or something and see if it makes any difference - I had a problem where I couldn't watch DVDs on my laptop a couple of weeks ago, and a simple player change fixed it. Is it possible it's simply the viewing angle? Where are you watching the movies from in relation to the monitor?