“Nice Blu-Ray purchase, Daniel!”
Thank you, Brain. What are we doing with it?
“Three connections: SPDIF aka fiber optic audio to the Denon receiver, HDMI to the Panasonic 42″ plasma TV, and the Ethernet cable to the router.”
OK. On it.
/click, snick, snap
Done!
“Power?”
Power.
“TV on?”
TV on.
“What’s it doin’?”
Downloading an update.
“How is it downloading a firmware update; we haven’t configured the BluRay to connect to the router.”
No idea.
“Daniel… we have a 13-character encrypted password to the router. How is BluRay hacking that, connecting to the Internet, and downloading firmware?”
I dunno.
“It really is downloading, isn’t it.”
Yep. Isn’t it a sad commentary on modern life when we’re shocked when something works right out of the box?
“Amen. Wanna try it?”
Yes. Hey kiddo!
DADDY!
Cmere.
DADDY?
I have a toy for you to try.
OK DADDY WHERE’S THE TOY?
Here. See the TV? We can connect to NetFlix now on the TV and watch movies.
I WANNA WATCH POKEMON!
Alright, let’s see… OH, Pokemon movie right here…
PLAY IT DADDY.
Pokemon 3… buffering… OH LOOK there it goes!
QUIET DADDY POKEMON IS PLAYING. CAN I HAVE PIZZA AND SOME OF YOUR CRANBERRY JUICE PLEEEEEEEASE?
Pizza and cranberry juice?
YES.
Friday night-rules, I guess.
THANK YOU DADDY.
“Hey Daniel!”
Yeah Brain?
“According to these instructions, your TV only goes up to 720p. The Blu-Ray supports 1080p.”
So…
“You are wasting 360p!”
I don’t think that’s how it works, Brain.
“Gimme Hand again. Gotta cruise back to BestBuy and see if they have a 42″ 1080p plasma…”
I own a 42′ 1080p HD TV. It’s a Dynex – basically a Best Buy Brand, but using LG parts. It’s an awesome TV. Cheers!
YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT, DANIEL.
There’s nothing better than wasting an entire afternoon watching movies on 1080p.
Bah, hi-def is hi-def. It’s not THAT much of a difference.
That’s responsibility and sensibility talking.
Hi-def is life. Live the American dream, watching American Idol in HD.
That’s mild insanity talking.
Hi-def is nice. Get it where available.
That’s me talking.
Get an LCD, not a plasma. Sure plasma sounds cooler than el-see-dee but it’s a better picture and you will much more easily be able to hook a computer up and use it at 1:1 pixel mapping. Just about everyone I’ve seen with a plasma and a computer hooked up to it is running at an odd resolution that’s not 1:1 with the pixels on the panel. Just sayin…
Hi Daniel,
Fun posts again as usual
Just one thing, and not sure if you meant it as a joke or not, but that password from your router (I take it’s a wireless router with some ethernet ports?) is only for the wireless (WPE/WPA(2)).
Most routers like the one you most likely have, don’t even do MAC filtering on the ethernet ports. Hence your flashy new Blu-ray player can broadcast for an IP address, and get access the internet for that update.
Before you rush out and buy that TV. Check your viewing distance. I believe a 1080p has a shorter viewing distance than 720p. Meaning if you more than (rough guess, don’t quote me) 6.5′ from the set, your eyes will not be able to discern the extra resolution. You could not tell the diffrence between 1080 and 720 sets next to each other. With longer viewing distances, the 720 looks even better.
*disclaimer. I am in no way an expert on home theater ot televisions. I’m just pretty sure I read that somewhere recently.
skraps is right on. ditto with plasma vs lcd. only if you have a large room with a long viewing distance would plasma be the way to go. and check out macTV…
Hey, Daniel? I have a weird request. May I use parts of this blog post in a 400 level writing course paper? I’d be using sections of the article and some of the comments section as an example of Commercialism in America.
Yes, I get to write weird papers in a 400 level course.
Grats anyways on the Blu Ray working immediately though!
The difference between 1080 and 720 is substantial. Viewing distance only has merit if your two comparison TV’s are smaller than 36″ – I have a 40″ LCD 1080p, and my friend has a 37″ 720 LCD, and my HD movies look better than his, by a huge margin.
If you’re looking for a relatively good priced one, and have a Costco membership, they have excellent 1080p TV’s at very reasonable prices, provided you can’t find a better deal with BestBuy rewards coupons
If you are looking for a new TV go bigger, use the one you have for the bedroom or BRK jr
I get a copy of the paper? Done.
Whatever tv you do pick up, I highly recommend having it professionally calibrated. The picture quality will be so much better afterwards, it’s worth the money.
lol, good going. If only I could afford one now
I upgraded from a 42″ EDTV (480p) to the TC-P42S1 and the difference is drastic. The picture is awesome, the black levels are amazing. Overall this was a great purchase, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a 42″ PDP.
Before you go buy an HDTV, do yourself a favor, look at this TV, and do some research. Read other reviews. It turned me around to plasma and to this 2009 model plasma from Panasonic in particular. I knew plasmas simply have a superior picture, but I thought the price and issues with plasmas were a detriment.
As far as picture goes, Plasmas are rated a lot higher than LCD’s. There’s only one LCD that was tested as high as some of the top end plasmas. The LG LH90 series. IHC tested every model of LCD and plasma this year. The LG LED LCDs were among the top. Best picture available in an LCD, but 2 plasmas were still higher rated. The new Panasonic and Samsung plasmas. I bought the LG 55LH90, and I freaking love it.
BRK,
This is one case in the world where size DOES matter. And length.
You know, distance between your couch and the screen.
Check out these links for a little guidance; it really does make a difference.
http://carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/
http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html
Feel free to email questions…I’m a bit of a HT nut.
Daniel San,
Might I recommend the Panasonic TH-42PZ80U?
Watching a Blu-ray on this bad-boy gives me the eerie sensation that the picture quality exceeds my ability to see.
Also, I’m fairly certain that the “P” stands for “Purple”, indicating that it’s an Epic item.
[...] Daniel, how did the Blu-Ray DVD player with Netflix access turn [...]
hey man- how did the dvd player turn out? i was actually thinking about getting the same model. any info would be appreciated. also, is there a reason you did not decided on the insignis 42″ tv? its pretty cool for the price.
Hi there, I accidently stumbled upon this site whilst searching on online as I’m searching for some material on LCD TVs!. It’s an interesting site so I have bookmarked you and intend to revisit soon to give it a more indepth read when I can give it more time.
The funny thing is I already knew this info but never implemented it
Thank you for the information, I ‘m really looking forward to the Samsung Epic 4G, although I have constantly been incredibly curious in gizmos, for a long time I have already been researching for my first smartphone and I did not get it yet. The actual reasons are quite simple: each and every couple of months there is a revolution in the industry (difficult to make a decision!) and prices here in Brazil are pretty abusive. Maybe I would enter this world in wonderful style with a Samsung Epic 4G. I hope so.
I would like to trade links.