Suggestions on a new TV?

turbolapp

turbolapp

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Aug 10, 2007
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So due to a lightning strike that blew out half our electronics the other day, I am in the market for a new TV.

We still have a working 51 inch LCD 1080 in the livingroom but my main complaint about this beautiful thing is that it doesn't play .avi. So any movies I would download I would move to a flashdrive, bring it in the livingroom and plugin to the xbox and go through about 15 menues and 3 remotes to get it to play. I swore next time I would just get a tv that plays an .avi direct from the flashdrive. (besides the Xbox fried with the other tv)

I found a couple tvs that will play an .avi but then I got to thinking that maybe there's an even better system out there I'm not even aware of (like streaming through hulu or something) that might be even better than the .avi thing.

Incidently, our dish network satilite got fried as well and I'm contemplating not even replacing it and just scraping the service all together since I can get most stuff online fairly quickly without it.

Which brings me to wf. I'm positive many of you guys have some sort of sweet set up going. So tell me what's what.
 


This is more of a dedicated home media setup, but I am thinking about doing this:

Note: You will need to have a decent computer and a nice GPU if you want to watch HD cleary, with no lag.

-I have an hdmi switch connected to my computer for my main monitor as well as my living room TV. I had to retrofit the hdmi chord to the TV in the living room (you might be able to do HDMI over COAX or something, thus no need for a retrofit)

-You'll need a program on your computer to switch to your TV as a main monitor upon power, and to switch back to your computer monitor when the TV shuts off. I BELIEVE AMD Catalyst can do this, but I know you can.

-Install a super easy interface media program, such as Windows Media Center

-Install app on iPad/iPhone that shows your desktop

-Turn TV on, click media center icon using your iphone/ipad app, cookie cutter interface works great with ipad/iphone....essentially use it as a remote

-Watch anything on your hard drive/media center

Steaming would work too, but you would have to go directly to Hulu/HBO go. Would be a pain in the ass on an iphone.
 
I just keep a slave laptop next to my sexy Sony Bravia and connect it via HDMI. VLC player plays everythang.

ps I'm glad you're alive.
 
We just recently updated our home television. The old one we had, was a true dinosaur. It was over 20 years old, and how it lasted so long...we will never know.

When we upgraded we went with a Samsung LED SmartTV. It's great!
 
turbolapp said:
Holy crap. Not sure how I missed this. Looks like you save 50 bucks on amazon too. Ordering one of these suckers tonight for the living room tv. Now i can be free to get a smaller one to replace the one that went out in the office.
Click to expand...

Boxee is a fantastic option.

An alternative is Apple TV (gen 2). Then jailbreak it and put XBMC on it. Most TV's won't play AVI's natively because they require a DNLA (or whatever the fuck it's called). Some TV's do but why bother getting a TV that does the trick, what a pain in the ass.

Also if you have a jailbroken iPad you can install XBMC on it so you can watch movies on your iPad from your computer or NAS if you don't want to keep your significant other up.

Consider buying a NAS like the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Qnap-Network-Storage-Server-TS-419PII-US/dp/B005PP8J76/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1333590378&sr=8-4"]QNAP [/ame] (no DR I promise). That of course is without drives. But you can fit UP to 12TB on that bitch. Believe me it will take some time to fill it up.
 
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Make sure you get yourself a surge protector . Did you have one on your last setup?
 
turbolapp said:
Yep. Apparently it doesn't matter much with a direct strike. :/
Click to expand...

Make sure your electrical is GROUNDED. Then also get a surge protector as mentioned but ALSO get whats called a voltage regulator.

We get massive spikes electrical storms in Costa Rica all the time. Those devices have saved my ass big time.
 
I have recently bought this shit for my parents

KDL-32EX520 : EX520 Series : BRAVIA

It supports wi-fi so it will display all the videos getting played on your computer screen. I suppose it could solve your problem of videos not supporting the format on the screen. You can also get bigger size if you love giant TV's.
 
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