The First sub $200 HD Player

[rocketpig]

Dodece said:
I would like everyone to know that this thread finally pushed me over the edge. I finally gave in and joined the High Definition nation. I decided to go with a 37" High Definition LCD flat panel. The price was reasonable in that it did not cost me over a thousand dollars. That said I am mired in some buyers remorse. Please let me have no regrets lord.

Seriously I had put it off for far too long. My old clunker was going on twenty years old only supported cable, and the sound and visual were not up to par. Sound was cutting out during gaming, and the games themselves looked scratchy. Even a brand new coaxial was not helping all that much, and who knows how long my VCR will hold out. That would be my primary by the way. Everything runs through the VCR. So the choice was getting to be one of I was going to be spending money so why not invest upwards.

I have some questions for the peanut gallery. The model I bought only supports up to 1080i. I seriously considered buying a model that supported both however the price difference was fantastic. I was already determined to stick to a budget that, and I was pushing with screen size. Push come to shove I would rather have a bigger screen rather then support a expensive format.

From what I understand BluRay runs on 1080p. Does that mean on my television that both formats will look exactly the same, or would the BluRay actually look worse. Would I notice any visual difference at all. Has my television made the format choice for me? Even if both formats play equally well I think I would defer to the cheaper format.

I am also curious that since the PS3 is a BluRay player. Would there be any visual difference between a PS3 game and 360 game at all? Curious if the format has a bearing on the quality of gaming visuals. Obviously with the dent in my wallet it will be some time before I make a decision. Just curious have I already made the decision.

Just so you know, if your TV supports only 1080i and not 720p or 1080p, DO NOT buy a PS3 (hopefully you don't already have one). Unless the game itself upconverts (most I've seen to this point do not), you'll be playing that game in 480i (aka. standard definition). It's one of the massive blunders that somehow passed through Sony's engineering department that could have been fixed with a $5 upscaling chip in the system. Good job, Sony.