Baby step towards HDTV

May 12, 2007 | In Movies & TV, Technology | No Comments

Let me start off by saying, I am somewhat of a home theater hobbiest. While I don’t have a high end set up, or even a big screen at the moment, I do have a subscription to Home Theater Magazine, accounts on both AVSForum.com and HomeTheaterForum.com.

Up until a few weeks ago I was going along happily with my standard definition Philips 27 inch CRT. Sure it wasn’t the best set out there, but it was mine. It fit into my set up nicely and displayed images wonderfully for what it was. While gaming one night the television suddenly turned off with a slight pop. Luckily (or so I thought) I was able to get the tube turned back on and the evening continued unaffected.

The day things got a little strange. After a long day at work I came home ready to pop a DVD into the old theater when I found the television had fallen silent. After a number of attempts to bring it back to the living (plugging in and unplugging really) it became evident the television was taking the eternal dirt nap as it were.

So here I am today, on the look out for a new television. Luckily I have some extra money, not a whole lot, but some to spend on a new television. With some other things going on this summer, the television budget is pretty tight, but I think I have found a good option.

I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Vizio, a small company that sells its budget displays in places like Walmart and Sam’s Club. While I was originally planning to avoid those outlets, I have to say the Vizios have caught my attention. With good reviews and recomendations from c|Net.com and a number of other places, I think I’m sold. Well at least sold enough to check it out.

I’m debating between the 32 inch and 37 inch. In reality I think I’ll be going with the 37 inch to play nicely in my home theater. Plus this gives me some future proofing.

A couple of things this set will allow me to invest in, in the future include a home theater computer (I’m going with a MacMini with a DVD burner) to host my music and download podcasts and work with my iPod. Also in the works will be an XBox 360 for a little Halo 3 action. And in the center will be a Series 3 TiVo to replace my current 80 hour single tuner series 2 TiVo. Of course that is all a little while down the line, I need the TV first.

I’ll also be looking at upgrading to some HD programing over the summer. I’ll keep you all posted on where things go with all this. Pictures will inevitably follow.