HDTV! What all do I need to get it going on?

[kimba]

I want to get my hubby a hdtv setup for our anniversary.
What do I need to get! I figure at TV, and a receiver that supports hdtv. Someone clue me in!

Thanks

KIMBA

[AUMMitsu]

A HDTV and a reciever (or a built in reciever) should be a great start for setting up a home theater. Look around to see what looks best to you. Heres what I ended up getting http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/WS55819.html

Also, before you pick which size TV you get, think carefully and consider the size of your room. I got the 65 inch at first but after it got delieverd and installed i realized it was too big for my room and exchanged it for the 55 inch. Good luck!

[ZeroDegreeK]

I would stick with an HDTV capable set, rather than a full HDTV. This way it is easy to upgrade the receiver.

How are you going to receive the HD signal: over the air with an antenna, cable, or satellite? That would determine which receiver you would need. If you have Time Warner cable, you can rent the HD decoder for 5 bucks a month.

[Dan]

Is it all Time-Warner cable locations that have the decoder box available. I live in New York City and have Time-Warner Digital Cable. Does that mean I just have to get a HDTV monitor and Time Warner will rent me the decoder?

Where can I find out more on this? I didn't see anything on Time-Warner's web sight about being able to rent the decoder.

Thanks for any info.

BTW. To the original poster - you should learn some general info about HDTV before you even start shopping for one. I would recommend the www.circuitcity.com website which has a couple of good pages explaining HDTV. However, do not go to a store (including Circuitcity)and expect the salespeople to teach you anything about HDTV. My experience is that they know virtually nothing about it and more often than not give wrong information. I have seen people make really big mistakes in buying HDTVs because of bad information given by salespeople. So please take your time and learn as much as possible about HDTV in general before you buy one.

Dan

[ZeroDegreeK]

The short answer is yes.

I think TWC in NY does have HDTV available and rent out the decoders. They might have the cable box with the decoder built in. Just give them a call and ask. If HDTV is available in your area, they give you all the equipment to receive the signal.

Except for the HDTV monitor, or course.

[sieve11]

Since this is in response to your request, I will offer the path that I took to video heaven. I don't claim that these are the best components to buy, but they do work extremely well together and, I believe, offer an exception value.

RCA 38310 HDTV $1749 via eBay Buy It Now
DirecTV elliptical dish $150 at Circuit City with 2nd receiver
Toshiba 4700 DVD $225 delivered via Consumer Direct
JVC 8010 A/V receiver $280 delivered via uBid
Xbox HD game system $200 at Circuit City

So, for $2600, I managed to get everything I needed. The RCA has an HD receiver/DirecTV receiver built-in, so we get OTA and satellite HD channels without any other boxes. I would also recommend the RCA stand, $300, because it perfectly matches the TV.

The Toshiba DVD and the xBox are fed to the component inputs of the JVC receiver so that both can be fed as component inputs to the RCA (it only has 1, so they share it). It's all so simple, my 8 year old daughter understood the routing of all the signals in the first week.

[Dan]

I took ZeroDegreeK's advice and called Time Warner here in New York City. I knew that offered HD but I thought you would have to get your own decoder.

Well, check it out. They give you the decoder. Better yet - they don't charge you for it. That is, they give you a box that is a combination cable box and HDTV decoder for the same price of a regular cable box. Good deal right.

Ok here is the bad news. Appearently there is a lot of demand for HDTV and they ran out of the HDTV boxes. So I got on the waiting list and they told me I would probably get one in July or August.

And unfortunately getting the signal over the air is not an options because the transmitter was on top of the World Trade Center which doesn't exist anymore.

Bottom line though is that HDTV should be a lot more affordable than I thought. For once, Time Warner is doing something good.

Dan

[ZeroDegreeK]

Dan,

Maybe TW is waiting until the next generation of STBs are out. I have been calling begging TW to give me the new Motorola (GI) 52X0. It has HDTV support and a PVR built in.

I love Time Warner. I don't have to go out and buy an $800 HDTV decoder that will be obsolete in a few months, and now I get a free TiVo. So sweet.

[kevinw]

Kimba lets start with what do you watch now? DVD's, Cable only programming or regular tv: ie NBC<ABC<CBS etc.

The majority of HD content comes over the air with an antenna. See Titan Tv (http://titantv.com) to see what is availble in your area.

How big is the room you will watch tv in? Bigger is not always best. Do you want regular screen(4:3) or widescreen(16:9)? Rear projection or Tube?

How much do want to spend?