gateway?

[mcoffman]

anyone have any experiences (good or bad) buying tvs from gateway.

i'm looking into a 30" LCD hd ready tv for $2799 with a promotion to receive a free 13" lcd tv (with a $400 mail in rebate)

also looking into buying a pc integreated dvd player and home theater package from them as well.


want to make certain i'm not doiung the wrong thing here and don't see any posts on gateway. thanks.

[summerfun]

Be very careful with Gateway. They have been known and I think had law suits brought against them for false advertising of HDTV.

A TV needs to DISPLAY either 720p or 1080i to be HDTV, not just accept that signal. Some of them accept HD signals but downconvert and only DISPLAY 480p also called ED (enhanced definition).

I don't know about any models, but just be careful.

[mcoffman]

he specs on the model stated the following:

HDTV Compatibility:
480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i through YPbPr

this is all greek to me. does this mean it is truly hd ready?

[summerfun]

The word Compatibility would scare me.

It must DISPLAY in 720p or 1080i to be HD.

Just becasue it can accept 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i signals does not make it HD. It might accept those signals, but only Display in 480p (ED). You would not want that.

480i is Standard Definition SDTV
480p is Enhanced Definition EDTV
720p and 1080i are High Definition HDTV

The PPbPr means component cables. You will always have that for HD or ED TV so it does not really tell you anything.


You should read up in the FAQ section. Lots of good info there.

[57U]

Give us the model number and we can check. For that price, a flat panel display is probably EDTV (enhanced definition - 480P) and not HD (720P or 1080i). EDTVs can look very nice, but they are not HDTVs.

Here is a thread on EDTV vs HDTV....

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7579

[mcoffman]

i don't even see a model number. it's listed as "Gateway 30-inch HD-Ready LCD TV Display"

[kevinw]

Over 2k for a 30 inch tv:wow: Not in my lifetime. Plenty of quality RP's in that price range.

[57U]

I found the following site:

http://products.gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=lcd30tv&sourceid=00391027567296400523&AFID=BEFREE01&seg=hm&cm_ven=Befree&cm_cat=Consumer&cm_pla=Data_Feed&cm_ite=Gateway_30-inch_HD-Ready_LCD_TV_Display

If you click on the "complete specifications" it shows the following"

Pixel resolution:
1280x768

This means that it will display in 768P, which is High Definition.

Be careful with LCD Flat Panel displays as some of them have a bit of a problem with fast action in that they can't follow sports very well due to some blurring of the image. You may wish to check this out.

For a 30" size, you could probably buy a CRT-based Direct View TV for a lot less, but that's your choice. Or for roughly the same money a much larger CRT-based RPTV, or the 42" Sony LCD-based RPTV (or similar).

See the FAQ on Types of HDTV.

I believe the model is LCD30TV.

See the following "reviews"

http://reviews.cnet.com/Gateway_30_inch_HD_ready_LCD_TV/4505-6482_7-30588522.html

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Gateway_30_inch_HD_ready_LCD_TV/4505-6482_16-30588522-4.html?tag=subnav

[mcoffman]

thanks alot for the input.

i think i might move in another direction based on the info here...

all these acronyms are driving me a bit crazy, but i'm sure i'll learn

[summerfun]

Take a look at the Sony Grand Wega LCD rear projection. They make a 42" for the same price you were looking at for the Gateway 30". I have the 60" version and could not be happier.

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&qp=03125&bookmark=bookmark_0&oid=77746&catoid=-8041