How Much Did You Pay For Your Hdtv?

[robert393]

............in reality there isn't that much out there actually shown in HD....Where's the programming?

Can you get Dish Network Satelite? They offer a TON of programming. Just look at today's HD line-up!

HD programming is still way over priced and no gain in channels has come out in quite some time.

The current price for the HD-PAK is $10 per month. For that price you get:TNTHD, DSCHD (Discovery), HDNET, HDNET MOVIES, ESPNHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, DEMO CHANNEL, NFL & NBA Game of the week. That's about a buck ($1) month, per channel (less than 4-cents a day per channel!). In addition to the HD-PAK I pay $5 per month for 10 VOOM channels (that's 2-cents per day per channel!). You may want to reconsider your statement that HD programming is "way over priced". Let's not forget the "off-air" HD (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX & UHF). They are FREE! That totals nearly 30 HD channels! Also, Dish Network is adding 7 more Voom channels in the next few days.....with no increase in price (still only $5 per month!).

........why hurry when there are those who are willing to pay premium dollars for a hand full of HD channels

Please see above.

Sounds like you just haven't been willing to cough-up the few bucks HD programming cost. It cost pennies per day, for LOTS of programming.

Robert

[Eric Z]

Great information, everyone- I'm feeling more and more motivated to take the leap! Now, how is the audio in the HD broadcasts? Is everything 5.1, or are some just like standard TV. I just think it would be interesting watching sports (my Bears or Cubs) in 5.1; do they have sports in 5.1?

I'm learning a lot- keep it coming!

[noddin0ff]

I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven HD channels and nothin' on

Well now home entertainment was my baby's wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There's fifty-seven HD channels and nothin' on

Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires
We might'a got all nice and friendly
If we'd made it upstairs
All I got was a note that said "Bye-bye John
Our love is fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"

TV just isn't worth $6K at any resolution. Apologies to Bruce.

[robert393]

TV just isn't worth $6K at any resolution.

Remember, you are on a HOME THEATER forum. That means we have an interest in high PQ (picture quality). I understand if you are not interested in paying $6k for HOME THEATER PQ, but excuse me for saying, but you may be in the wrong forum. For a HT enthusist, $6k may be a bargain. It is all relative.

Robert

[GMichael]

Remember, you are on a HOME THEATER forum. That means we have an interest in high PQ (picture quality). I understand if you are not interested in paying $6k for HOME THEATER PQ, but excuse me for saying, but you may be in the wrong forum. For a HT enthusist, $6k may be a bargain. It is all relative.

Robert

$6K
divided by 365 days a year
diveded by a conservative 5 years
equals $3.287 per day of pure entertainment.

Go to a movie:
$10 a ticket times 2
$5 a soda
$5 for popcorn
equals $30 for a few hours of entertainment

Go to a game:
$30 a ticket times 2 (these are the cheep seats)
$5 a beer
$4 a hot dog
Oh please, add this one up for me.

[robert393]

$6K
divided by 365 days a year
diveded by a conservative 5 years
equals $3.287 per day of pure entertainment.

Go to a movie:
$10 a ticket times 2
$5 a soda
$5 for popcorn
equals $30 for a few hours of entertainment

Go to a game:
$30 a ticket times 2 (these are the cheep seats)
$5 a beer
$4 a hot dog
Oh please, add this one up for me.

Careful there GM, you don't want to confuse people with the facts when their mind is already made-up! Seriously, great analogy.

It may not be worth $6k to you, but to Robert, and perhaps myself, it does....$6k is just the starting block.

Well said Big Fella, I was just thinking how naive it would be to think $6k would get you much more than a quality (1080i) monitor bigger than 80", much less anything else ie, 5.1 sound, DVDP, speakers, wire/cabling, satelite, processor, sub, etc, etc, etc.......
What I have always had a hard time understanding is why some people spend their time on a HOME THEATER forum, when there interest lies elsewhere. For instance, I have absolutely NO DESIRE for a DJ turntable setup, and personally I wouldn't spend $10 on one. I fully understand enthusist spend thousands of dollars on such set-ups (I knew a guy...ok?). But, you won't see me on a DJ-Turntable setup forum telling people how ridiculous it is to spend thousands of dollars on such set-ups!

Let's face it, the HT arena is only getting bigger. More and more people are getting excited about it and spending mega-cash for it. HT is a hobby that gives many hours and years of enjoyment in return!

Am I correct to assume the $5 or $10 extra per month for HD everyone is talking about is on top of your current cable/satellite cost?

That would be correct.

.....When DVD is HD I'll reconsider.

Better get ready to cough-up some cash then. When you get a 1080i capable monitor and the HD DVDP and start buying those HD DVD'S that $6k budget you mentioned won't stretch too far!

Robert

[GMichael]

Careful there GM, you don't want to confuse people with the facts when their mind is already made-up! Seriously, great analogy.Robert

Thanks, I was in a rush to a meeting and didn't get to really finish what I was going to say. But the idea is there.

What I have always had a hard time understanding is why some people spend their time on a HOME THEATER forum, when there interest lies elsewhere. For instance, I have absolutely NO DESIRE for a DJ turntable setup, and personally I wouldn't spend $10 on one. I fully understand enthusist spend thousands of dollars on such set-ups (I knew a guy...ok?). But, you won't see me on a DJ-Turntable setup forum telling people how ridiculous it is to spend thousands of dollars on such set-ups! Robert

To each their own. Maybe it's just not his time for HT.

But I don't always notice what catagory a post is in. I just check all of the ones I haven't read yet. And even if he did, it's his dime. I don't mind if he doesn't want HD yet, or ever.

Let's face it, the HT arena is only getting bigger. More and more people are getting excited about it and spending mega-cash for it. HT is a hobby that gives many hours and years of enjoyment in return!That would be correct.Better get ready to cough-up some cash then. When you get a 1080i capable monitor and the HD DVDP and start buying those HD DVD'S that $6k budget you mentioned won't stretch too far!

Robert

I like it. I'll keep upgrading as my budget alows. HD DVD's will be a part of it someday, I'm sure.

[noddin0ff]

What I have always had a hard time understanding is why some people spend their time on a HOME THEATER forum, when there interest lies elsewhere.

Who said my interests aren't in HT? HD isn't the ONLY component of the HT experience. In fact, I'm very enthusiastic about HT and enjoy it very much with out HD. I have a hard time understanding why some people equate $$$ spent with interest, enthusiam, or ability to know what money buys.

More and more people are getting excited about it and spending mega-cash for it...Better get ready to cough-up some cash then. When you get a 1080i capable monitor and the HD DVDP and start buying those HD DVD'S that $6k budget you mentioned won't stretch too far!
Robert

Ahhh! I see. How dumb of me to assume that HT was for the Everyman, now I see it's for the monied. Maybe we should have separate forums. One for people who invest over $10K for their hobbies and a second for those who spend under $10k, you know, for the people who have inferior enthusiasm for the hobby.

[Woochifer]

What I have always had a hard time understanding is why some people spend their time on a HOME THEATER forum, when there interest lies elsewhere. For instance, I have absolutely NO DESIRE for a DJ turntable setup, and personally I wouldn't spend $10 on one. I fully understand enthusist spend thousands of dollars on such set-ups (I knew a guy...ok?). But, you won't see me on a DJ-Turntable setup forum telling people how ridiculous it is to spend thousands of dollars on such set-ups!

Keep in mind that we got a very wide range of interests populating this forum. Just because people have an interest in home theater does not mean that they want to spend $6k+ on a video monitor. For example, my interests have primarily been on audio side, and I've chosen to stand pat on the video side for a variety of reasons. For others, video is their primary focus, and they're fine with a HTIB or even a two-channel setup to handle the audio.

I understand your enthusiasm for HD, but sometimes you get overly presumptuous about the reasons behind why people have not yet chosen to make the HD upgrade. For one thing, IMO every current approach to HDTV has at least one significant drawback, whether it's performance or price or size. By far the best HD playback that I've seen was with a calibrated direct view 16:9 CRT. Drawbacks are that direct view CRT HDTVs have limited screen size, the cabinets are bulky, and the TVs are very heavy. Rear projection is an economical way to get a large screen size, but has problems with limited viewing angle and not-so-great image quality on standard definition programming (like it or not, the vast majority of programming out there is not HD and will continue to be for at least the next few years). Plasma and LCD flat panels, and front projection also have their share of tradeoffs.

Let's face it, the HT arena is only getting bigger. More and more people are getting excited about it and spending mega-cash for it. HT is a hobby that gives many hours and years of enjoyment in return!That would be correct.Better get ready to cough-up some cash then. When you get a 1080i capable monitor and the HD DVDP and start buying those HD DVD'S that $6k budget you mentioned won't stretch too far!

And as with any other consumer electronics category moving over from niche status to the mass market, the prices on HD and home theater gear in general continues to tumble. Just on the HDTV side, the prices on comparable flat panel sets have gone down by about 40% just in the past 12 months. The 50" LG plasma that my parents bought last week for $5k had a list price of $8k back in May.

People who always want to be an early adoptor pay for that privilege (and subsidize those consumers who are fine with waiting a year or two before jumping on a new format bandwagon). I'm fine with coughing up the cash for my HT gear, but I'm equally fine with waiting things out so that I can cough up less of it. I think it's premature to talk about the HD disc players, considering that they're not even out yet and we don't know how invasive the copy protection restrictions will be on the production units (check around the internet and you'll see how much the copy protection issues have dampened the enthusiasm for HD-DVD and Blu-ray). With Blu-ray especially, IMO it would be foolish to buy those players right when they come out considering that the PS3 due out in spring 2006 will have Blu-ray playback built in, and will have to compete on price with the $400 Xbox 360.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

[I]
TV just isn't worth $6K at any resolution. Apologies to Bruce.

Doesn't that depend on ones own judgement and perspective? It may not be worth $6k to you, but to Robert, and perhaps myself, it does. Especially when you consider that you are not just getting HDTV, but well done upscaled DVD picture(mine does professional quality upscaling to 1080P), and in some cases VERY good quality picture from SD sources. IMO (and just mine) $6k is just the starting block.

[noddin0ff]

Doesn't that depend on ones own judgement and perspective?...

Yep. I gave mine.

But in the spirit of full disclosure I refuse to pay for expanded basic, digital cable, or movie options. I don't need HD for PBS or TWC. My TV viewing is 95% DVD. When DVD is HD I'll reconsider. My cable bill is less than $10 per month.

[robert393]

Great information, everyone- I'm feeling more and more motivated to take the leap! Now, how is the audio in the HD broadcasts? Is everything 5.1, or are some just like standard TV. I just think it would be interesting watching sports (my Bears or Cubs) in 5.1; do they have sports in 5.1?

I'm learning a lot- keep it coming!

Eric, to my knowledge all HD programming is 5.1 DD. For sure ALL sports are 5.1 DD. Crystal clear picture, true 5.1 surround. Get an Off-air antenna, sign-up for satelite, and buddy, you are "cooking"!

Robert