Jack Aubrey Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 You folks may remember me posting that tidbit about the PS3 network making available technology that allows the PS3 to upconvert SD DVDs to HD. I said that I would hold off on buying an HD or Blu-Ray DVD player until they featured that technology. Well, it turns out that upconverting DVD players are now available. They're not HD players, but they play your regular DVDs in near-HD quality. My wife who needed to buy some glue sticks yesterday (she does a lot of crafting, right now she's making fancy flowered wreaths for the family and she's really good at it, but I digress) while she was going to get the glue sticks, I went to the electronics department and saw that they had two of the new players. I started talking to a fellow who was in the same aisle, and he told me that he was at Best Buy the day before and they had about ten different brands, so I went there. I talked to the Best Buy employee and asked him which ones were the best. He recommended the LG, the Samsung, and the Pioneer players. I wound up buying the LG because it was the only one of the three that had an optical audio connector, and that's my preferred sound hookup. He told me that I also needed a connector cable for the HDMI attachment on the player so that it could play at 1080i, I couldn't remember if my TV had that connection, but I was pretty sure it did. Turns out I was wrong, my TV has a DVI connection, so I need to get an HDMI to DVI cable today. I'll let you know how that quality is later tonight. Oh, and the most expensive of the new players is only $119. The LG was $99. Not bad. The bad news is that that HDMI cable costs $60. That's still less than an HD or Blu-Ray DVD player, though, and you don't need to buy the HD or Blu-Ray DVDs either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdog Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 (edited) I have had one of these ( a Sony DVP-NS75H) for a couple of months now. I am happy with it, but I will add I only see the benefit on newer releases. A lot of the older stuff really doesn't look any different than it did on my old player. I wonder if it has to do with the technology that was originally used? The newer stuff does "upconvert" nicely and I can see a difference. I paid $109 at Best Buy. But, just as Jack said, you must use an HDMI connection to see any difference. edit: you can get HDMI cables much cheaper than $60 from this place the shipping is free and it usually arrives within a week. Hey, if it will save me 50 something bucks, the wait is worth it to me. And the quality is just fine. Don't let the guy at the electronics store tell you that you need to spend $100 on the Monster cable. Edited May 29, 2007 by Snowdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 I've had one for a few months also.....Blu-Ray is 1080p (providing your TV is capable to display it) and the upconverting DVD players are 1080i. 1080p is of course much better but these upconverting DVD players aren't bad. I use the HDMI hookup, and the results are very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Aubrey Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 QUOTE (Snowdog @ May 29 2007, 09:00 AM) Don't let the guy at the electronics store tell you that you need to spend $100 on the Monster cable. True dat. The only Monster component that I would recommend is their surge protector. It's expensive, but it comes with a lifetime $10,000 insurance policy. You can't beat that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Wal-Mart sells RCA branded HDMI cables for $50 or so..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Aubrey Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ May 29 2007, 01:10 PM) Wal-Mart sells RCA branded HDMI cables for $50 or so..... Never buy RCA anything! They make junk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Aubrey Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 3 User(s) are reading this topic (0 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users): Jack Aubrey, WCFIELDS, bardan Bardan! How've you been, man?! Nice to see you again, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdog Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ May 29 2007, 01:12 PM) QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ May 29 2007, 01:10 PM) Wal-Mart sells RCA branded HDMI cables for $50 or so..... Never buy RCA anything! They make junk! I don't know about RCA, but I know if Jack says they're junk, they are. But the link I provided in my post above will get you a quality cable at a very nice price. You just have to wait for delivery. They have tons of other stuff too. I've done business with them many times and always have received good service (no, I'm not a partner in the business ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ May 29 2007, 12:12 PM) QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ May 29 2007, 01:10 PM) Wal-Mart sells RCA branded HDMI cables for $50 or so..... Never buy RCA anything! They make junk! Even the cables are junk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Aubrey Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 QUOTE (Snowdog @ May 29 2007, 01:15 PM) QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ May 29 2007, 01:12 PM) QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ May 29 2007, 01:10 PM) Wal-Mart sells RCA branded HDMI cables for $50 or so..... Never buy RCA anything! They make junk! I don't know about RCA, but I know if Jack says they're junk, they are. But the link I provided in my post above will get you a quality cable at a very nice price. You just have to wait for delivery. They have tons of other stuff too. I've done business with them many times and always have received good service (no, I'm not a partner in the business ) Well, I have to admit that I have a knee-jerk reaction where they're concerned. Over the course of my life, I've owned 4 RCA components and they all broke. I kept going back to them because their prices are so good, but after the fourth one I said 'never again'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Correct me if I'm wrong.....but there shouldn't be any quality difference between different brands of HDMI cables......should there? I know Monster claims this and that, but I don't believe the hype..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Aubrey Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ May 29 2007, 01:20 PM) Correct me if I'm wrong.....but there shouldn't be any quality difference between different brands of HDMI cables......should there? I know Monster claims this and that, but I don't believe the hype..... I know that some higher-end cables use a nitrogen-infused insulation. This supposedly prevents air from ever getting to the internal wiring thus preventing corrosion. Also, several higher-end cables have gold-plated connectors and gold is the best conductor of electricity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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