TV

[Flack]

Finally joined the current (maybe last?) generation of technology by replacing our downstairs 35" CRT TV with a 52" flatscreen Sony Bravia.

The Bravia comes with essentially the same dashboard as the PS3. After connecting the included wireless NIC, I was able to watch YouTube videos on my TV. So weird. It also does upnp streaming right out of the box, so without Pivo I can stream and watch divx movies from my server upstairs, wirelessly. Bizarre.

[Felix]

I have heard wonderful things about the Bravia line of tvs. When my parents replaced their TV six months ago, I lobbied for them to get one. They didn't and bought a pretty bad TV instead.

Is it a sweet TV?

[AArdvark]

How soon before televisions have internet browsing apps built in. I like the media streaming capability, much better then having a VHS tape player or a DVD player built in.

[Flack]

I have heard wonderful things about the Bravia line of tvs. When my parents replaced their TV six months ago, I lobbied for them to get one. They didn't and bought a pretty bad TV instead.

Is it a sweet TV?

So far, I love it. I was at Sam's looking at different models and it was sitting next to a couple of 55" TVs (which is the size I was planning on buying) but no matter how much I played with the controls and settings, I couldn't get those two 55" TVs to look as good as this 52" Bravia, so I ended up buying it instead. My only real regret is the time of year -- I'm sure it'll be on sale the weekend after Thanksgiving, but our old TV was on its very last legs and with the holidays coming up, I didn't want to end up stuck without a television if the other one died suddenly.

The Bravia comes with a wireless network card, and I'm sure this is the first television I've ever owned that had its own IP address. The "menu bar" or whatever you call it looks just like the one on the PS3, except it has a dozen sources already added (and I'm not sure if they can be removed). In other words, when you hit menu, you can either stream video from your own UP&P media server(s), or you can search for videos on YouTube, Blip.tv, Wired.com, or a dozen other sources. It really begs the question of, do I really need Pivo in the living room any more? The only thing we use Pivo for is (a) to stream media and (b) record media. Nobody records media but me (if someone else wants a show recorded, they ask me) so at this point there's no reason why Pivo needs to be in the same room, much less on a dedicated machine. I'll have to think about that one.

So now I have a digital television hooked to analog cable, and (like I knew it would) it looks terrible. We've already checked about upgrading to digital cable, so that will most likely happen within the next week or so. I don't know that Pivo in its current incarnation is capable of recording digital video, so it may all be a moot point soon.

Anyway, yes I do love it. So far I've only played standard definition video on it (DVDs) and it looks great. I'm thinking about moving the PS3 downstairs at least temporarily for a little blu-ray action.

[Flack]

How soon before televisions have internet browsing apps built in. I like the media streaming capability, much better then having a VHS tape player or a DVD player built in.

I suspect it could be done quite easily (both the PS3 and the Wii have built in web browsers) so there must be some other reason why they don't do it.

[lethargic]

LED is niiiice right?

Does it have more than YouTube? My Samsung also has built in Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon as well as a bunch of other crap.

Streaming divx from the computer is also niiiiice. Watched the new Nightmare on Elm Street like that last night.

[Flack]

It's called "Bravia Internet Video" (I think). For as cool as it is you would think I would be able to find more out about it on the web. It looks like Sony sells a stand alone device that adds this to other televisions for $299 (not worth it), but having it built in is kind of nice. Here is the current list of "channels":

Hulu Plus
Amazon Video
Qriocity
Blip.tv
Conceirge.com
Crackle
DailyMotion
eHow
epicurious
FearNET
FordModels
GolfLink.com
Howcast
LiveStrong
SingingFool
Style.com
Slacker
Videocast.com
Yahoo!
MyPlay
NPR
VideoDetective
Wired
YouTube
Pandora Internet Radio
Netflix

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... V_showcase

I'm sure that is subject to change, as these things come and go. Also, some of those are audio only like Pandora and Slacker. We turned it on earlier and it just played 80s music and showed album covers kind of like the digital music channels, so that was cool.

This is a link to the TV: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Bravia-KDL-5 ... B0035ER1KK

[Flack]

I forgot to tell you the funniest part -- the TV comes with the "Michael Jackson Channel". The channel contains 11 videos, a trailer for "This is It". So pretty much any time 24/7 I can watch Thriller, Rock With You or Black and White now.

[lethargic]

That looks to be pretty much the same stuff the Samsung has except for Fearnet. I have twitter and facebook too. It's all really fun the first day then you get bored with it. haha

I'd like to be able to use Netflix but it doesn't get good enough speed through the wireless. It only gets half the speed of what I normally get on my wireless Roku box.

I really wish I could just get rid of our TV service at this point. With Hulu and Netflix streaming, plus Netflix discs and other stuff it really seems like a waste of money. But I can't watch hockey through any of it.

[lethargic]

Is YOUR new TV still working? F Samsung in the A with a big C.

[Flack]

Did all 3D's break or just some of them?

[lethargic]

Did all 3D's break or just some of them?

I dunno.

All the hdmi inputs quit working.

After talking to THREE people at Samsung I got a service appointment set up. But the appointment isn't really an appointment, it's an appointment to have somebody call you within 2 business days to set up the actual appointment.

The next day they call back and say that this is a known issue with the TVs that they found out about 2 weeks ago. So he said he wanted to cancel the service call and send me a USB drive with some software on it to fix the issue. I ask why I can't just download it from them and do it right now if it's a known issue. Blah blah blah. And I also make sure that this isn't just a firmware update. My firmware is up to date, don't need that. He says no, it's a special software patch for this issue.

After that I would check my account and every time they'd start my "ticket" to get my USB it would cancel. So I would have to call and get it re-sent and re-sent and re-sent. I finally got one and it's not special software whatsoever. It's just a firmware update. Not only that, it's an older firmware update than what I already have so it won't do anything at all.

So I have to call back in again and now I have another appointment to get an appointment. Of course now it's friday, so 2 business days now means 4.

And to add to the aggravation I got Kinect and 2 games ordered, that comes out Thursday. So after all the waiting for that damn thing and I still have no idea how long it'll be before I can try it out because I might not have a TV.

[Flack]

Let us know how the repair goes.

I thought maybe just the 3D part broke. 2D would still be "something". 1D is just a line, I think. Length, no depth.

Your TV is worse than a line right now.

[lethargic]

Repair guy called today and said he was going to order the parts to fix it and then once they get in he'll call back to make an appointment to come out.

So my appointment to get an appointment has now become an appointment to get an appointment to get an appointment to get an appointment.

And he also said that when he gets here I have to give him a photocopy of my receipt. Since I'm not a hoarder I don't keep months old receipts so I don't know what will happen.

[Flack]

We just got HD Cable for the first time. We're missing a big block of channels we're supposed to be getting, but it's still pretty amazing.

It was nice for a month to only have one TV remote. Back to two, I guess.

[ubikuberalles]

Hmm. I have four remotes for my Entertainment system: One for the HDTV, one for my PS3 and two for my two VCR's (yes, I know, I still use that old technology).

Actually, this is a slight improvement. A year ago I had four remotes but three of them were for VCR's. Even worse, my old 19 inch TV was a Symphonic and so was one of my VCR's which meant they both reacted to the same remote! (Which meant I really had only three remotes at the time). Luckily the sensor in the TV was not very sensitive and it only reacted to the remote when I pointed it directly at the TV. The VCR's sensor was very sensitive and it would react even if I pointed the remote away from the VCR. This led to some interesting problems, remote-wise. When I would turn off the TV with the remote, it would also turn off the VCR. Usually that wasn't a problem but sometimes they would get out of sync: I press the button to turn on the TV and it would turn off the VCR! So I would then point the remote away from the TV and press the power button a second time to turn on the VCR. This is what I get for being to cheap to replace something before it breaks down completely.

[lethargic]

In the living room I haveTV remote, DirecTV remote, DVD recorder remote, HD-DVD player remote, Blu-Ray player remote, Xbox remote, Surround Sound remote and VCR remote.

But in the bedroom I only have 4.

[dstone]

At one point, I was up to 10 remotes (TV, Xbox 360, HD-DVD, CD changer, MD recorder, surround sound, HTPC, laserdisc, and two four-port video switch boxes. Trimmed it all down to one remote (Logitech Harmony 880), then ended up getting a remote for the PS3, so I'm back up to two now (don't want to spend the $50 on an infrared to bluetooth adapter). The Harmony was the best thing I've ever purchased for my system.

[Flack]

I have one remote for Pivo (my PVR). At one point I had three more remotes (TV, DVD, and VCR) but I FINALLY got a universal remote that would control all three. I don't even count Pivo because half the time I just VNC into it to do things.

I added a cable box to my bedroom too and all I do in there is flip channels and constantly adjust the volume because Susan goes to sleep way before I do. So last night I had to lay there with one remote in each hand, one to flip channels and one to adjust the volume, and you would think that either one of those remotes should be able to control the other device.

[lethargic]

What kind of terrible cable do you have that doesn't have a remote that can control volume? Is there a wire running from the remote to the box?

[Flack]

It's got more buttons than any of my other remotes (including volume buttons), but for some reason it doesn't control the volume either on the cable box or on my TV.

[lethargic]

My TV got so tired of waiting to get fixed that it just started working again. Just in time for the midnight launch of Kinect.

[Felix]

Flack, if you have cox cable, the remotes can be a real bitch. Sometimes you have to program them 3-4 times. Search around for some codes as their site is pretty lacking