Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The new Vizio 50-inch VP505XVT 1080p plasma HDTV ($1,499 msrp) is a sweet deal in terms of quality and screen size at a low price. PlayBack Magazine reviewed the Vizio VP505XVT and gave it some very high marks, including 10 out of 10 on their value scale. They summed up their review with this:
A true bargain, the Vizio sets the standard for affordable plasma excellence. With its high quality picture and equally good video
processing, this 50-inch set puts to shame other set out there that cost two to three times its highly affordable price.
They tested the set with the Blu-ray version of Seven Days in Tibet and found the color reproduction to be “full of expressive color” and “rich, but not overly saturated.” They also liked the set’s black levels and found shadow detail in dimly lit interior scenes to be “easily discernable,” an area where most bargain LCDs perform poorly.
Vizio XP505XVT specifications:
- 1080p
- 4 HDMI inputs
- 30,000:1 typical contrast ratio
- 1.073 billion colors
- 114.7 lb (with stand)
The Vizio VP505XVT is currently only available on Vizio’s website, where shipping costs ruin the bargain price, but hopefully it will be on the shelves of Costco soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up as one of 2009’s bestsellers.
Link:
Official Vizio VP505XVT website
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sears has the Sharp Aquos BD-HP21U Blu-ray player on sale for $179.99. The BD-HP21U is a Profile 1.1 player whose standout feature is a very quick start-up time (discs load in about 10 seconds). It can also decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio.
The player hasn’t been professionally reviewed, but CNET did check out its immediate predecessor, the BD-HP20U, which they rated a 5.4 out of 10. They liked the excellent 1080p/24p video quality, but didn’t like that the player’s Quick Start feature uses lots of power even when the player is on off.
Link: Sharp Aquos BD-HP21U for $179.99 at Sears.com
Sunday, November 16, 2008
WalMart.com has some nice value bundle deals on sale leading up to Black Friday. A standout is a sweet Playstation 3 bundle for $488 (see below). Head on over to Wal-Mart.com to check out their pre-Black Friday value bundles.
$488
PlayStation 3
Sony Blu-ray remote
2 Playstation games of your choice
4 Blu-ray movies of your choice.
Not a bad deal, considering the PS3 goes for $400 by itself.
Link: Playstation 3 Wal-Mart Holiday Bundle.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Below is a table featuring the bitrates and codecs of popular HD content sources, including the major download services.
Note that bitrates are not the only measure of potential picture quality. Other factors to consider are the quality of the source material and the type of compression (codec) used.
Codecs differ in their efficiency in compressing the original picture. Theoretically, one codec could provide a much superior picture over another with both having the same file size. Nevertheless, the differences between codec efficiencies is currently not great enough to disregard bitrate–it’s still the best measure of potential picture quality.
| Type |
HD Source |
Bit-rates |
Codecs |
 |
Blu-ray |
40 mbps |
MPEG-2, VC-1, MPEG-4 AVC H.264 |
 |
ATSC HDTV (over-the-air) |
19.39 mbps |
MPEG-2 |
 |
Cable TV |
10-15 mbps |
MPEG-2 |
 |
Apple iTunes |
4.0 mbps |
MPEG-4 H.264 |
 |
Xbox Live |
6.8 mbps |
VC-1 |
 |
Hulu.com |
2.5 mbps |
MPEG-4 H.264 |
 |
Vudu HD |
4.0 mbps |
MPEG-4 AVC H.264 |
|
Vudu HDX |
9.0 mbps |
MPEG-4 AVC H.264 |
Note: Bit rate is the amount of data that is processed per second as you watch the HD content.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wal-Mart’s Black Friday deals brings us the cheapest Blu-ray player yet, the Magnavox NB500MG9 for $128. There are two other HDTV-related deals:
50-inch Samsung 720p plasma HDTV $798
Xbox 360 ($199) w/ Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock game and wireless guitar.
Via CNN.com.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Costco has a few in-store HDTV deals for Black Friday 2008. If you’re looking for a huge LCD this Christmas, Costco may be your place. The deals require coupons. Here’s a link to a scan of the coupons from bfads.net. The coupons are good for November 28, 29, and 30. Check out the deals below.
| Picture |
HDTV |
Coupon |
Ad link |
 |
Vizio 37-inch LCD HDTV |
$100 off |
Link |
 |
Sharp Aquos 65-inch 1080p LCD |
300 off |
Link |
 |
Sharp Aquos 52-inch 1080p LCD HDTV |
$300 off |
Link |
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Radio Shack, king of cables and cords, has a few HDTV-related deals for the 2008 Holidays. The standout bargains are a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player for $199.99 (CNET rated the BD-P1500 a 6.8 our of 10) and a 50-pack of blank TDK DVDs for $8. Here’s a look at all of Radio Shack-s Black Friday HDTV-related deals:
Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player $199.99 (regular price $299)(link)
iLive Sound Bar $79.99 (regular price $129)(link)
AOC L32W861 32″ LCD HDTV $399.99 (regular price $599.00) (link)
TDK 50-Pack of 16x DVDs $7.99 (regular price $27.99) (link)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sam’s Club’s Black Friday 2008 deals were just released, and their HDTV-related items are a bit underwhelming. There is one bright spot, a Sharp Aquos 1080P 52-inch LCD HDTV for $1384.00. The Aquos is a solid television, although we’d like to see a couple hundred more bucks knocked off.
Here is the entire list of HDTV-related Black Friday deals:
- JVC 32-inch 720P LCD/DVD Combo TV $598
- Phillips 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV $898
-
Sharp Aquos 52-inch 1080p LCD HDTV $1384
And some Blu-ray discs:
- A Clockwork Orange Special Edition Blu-ray $10.87
- Battle Of The Bulge Blu-ray $10.87
- Dark Territory Blu-ray $10.87
March Of The Penguins Blu-ray $10.87- Out For Justice Blu-ray $10.87
- The Aviator Blu-ray $10.87
- The Searchers Blu-ray -$10.87
- Under Siege 2 Blu-ray $10.87
- Wyatt Earp Blu-ray $10.87
Link:
Sam’s Club.com
Dell Home (link) will have some HDTV-related deals for Black Friday. The most impressive is an XBOX 360 Arcade with 7 games, including Rock Band 2, for just $199. Wow. Check out all of Dell’s HDTV-related Black Friday deals below:
Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray Disc Player $249.99. This is a great player, but K-mart has same model for $180 on Thanksgiving Day. (Link.)
Sony HDX275 Home Theater System $229.99. 5-disc DVD/CD changer. 1000 watts. iPod dock. DVD upscaling to 1080p. HDMI interface.
Sharp LC42SB45U 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV $779.00. This is Sharp’s bargain line of LCDs. Not a bad price. Sears will have a 46-inch Sharp Acqous 1080p LCD for $900. (Link.)
XBOX 360 Arcade With 7 Games Including Rock Band 2 $199.00. The Arcade bundle includes 6 packaged games like Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Boom Boom Rocket, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Uno, and Superstars Tennis. The real value is the addition of Rock Band 2, which is $60 on its own. Doesn’t come with instruments, however.
Via BlackFriday.info
