Home entertainment / console help - UPDATE 15th

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  • pte1643
    pte1643 Posts: 518
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    pte1643 wrote:
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    All 360s have HDMI

    Nope.

    The HDMI connectivity was added in 2007.

    I have one of the Original ones that only has the RCA connectors.
    Well DUH.

    I should have put "All current 360's have HDMI".

    I must go and facepalm myself. really hard.
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    edited August 2010
    My plasma which I paid £800 for about 4 years ago packed up recently, was the biggest pile of crap I ever purchased, 4 years for a TV to last is shite, and the picture was never that sharp - LCD all the way now (or LED if your feeling flush)

    I was in richer sounds the other day, a 60 inch LED playing batman begins on bluray...

    The picture was so real, it was like you could walk into it.... scary but equally brilliant.

    Nice if you have £4k to spend! :lol:
  • Cferg
    Cferg Posts: 347
    You'll notice a big difference between HD and normal connections on the 360, however I cant comment on the PS3, as I dont own one. The best thing you've mentioned so far is Sky HD it's first class, the difference between SD and HD channels on Sky is unbelievable in cases, albeit hard to mention in some cases but the likes of Eurosport and Eurosport HD is incredible, after watching HD tour de France on Eurosport and turning over to the F1 on BBC 1, it looked like watching some crap quality video on youtube.

    Oh and I'd buy a 250GB 360 btw :wink:
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    Thanks for all of the help.

    I have decided.

    Bluray 5.1 home cinema kit £300

    Xbox 250gb £190

    £490.... not a lot.

    SKY HD box (hopefully not too much as its an upgrade and I spend A LOT with Sky)

    It wont be the best quality available, but it sure will beat my current set up!!!!
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    Don't know if you're into this kind of thing, but...
    If you like things like "guitar hero" games, then it's still worth keeping a decent CRT screen around if you have one.
    HDTVs give too much lag, making it just infuriating, especialyl ofr anyone on the drums.
    It's hard enough as it is when you have a house full of drunk mates screaming and banging away, but a laggy HDTV just makes it no fun at all.
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    LOL Yehaa - I do have an old CRT screen and I have not ruled Guitar Hero out yet!

    Also, I went to hit the 'Quote' tab above ^^^^ and hit the 'report post' button.. LOL

    I hit the back button, but if you get mod-ed I apolgise!!! :lol::lol::lol:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    God knows how I've not been mod-ed yet. So many people must have reported my crazed rantings/trollings. Not a peep yet.

    Haha, if you get guitar hero, hit me up on the Xbox, I'd be more than up for a drum-off! :D
  • Thread8
    Thread8 Posts: 479
    I heard the new xboxes couldnt get ring of death, dont know if thats true or not?

    As for the surround sound aspect, have a look at this, was given a demo in john lewis the other day and this blew away a much more expensive Bose system with ease:

    http://www.orbitsound.com/product.asp?id=3

    Plus its an ipod dock, and you can put laptops and other tech into it too
    Haro Thread 8
    Please help!

    "It's like parkour, on a bike"
  • Mynameisdann
    Mynameisdann Posts: 665
    well they dont have any red leds so technically they cant, like everything else they can still break
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    Thread8 wrote:
    have a look at this, was given a demo in john lewis the other day and this blew away a much more expensive Bose system with ease:

    http://www.orbitsound.com/product.asp?id=3
    Meh, those things are fine if you're really on a budget, but all they do (despite claims to world-conquering patents) is fcuk up with the left/right phase relationship.
    I find them to sound "hollow" myself. Gimme a decent stereo setup any day of the week.

    (sssssh, I'm not surprised it blew away any Bose system - they're frankly terrible!)
  • Thread8
    Thread8 Posts: 479
    I get your point Yeehaa, but I do really like the way the infinite sweet spot works, and the fact that you havent got wires all over the place etc etc as opposed to the traditional setups

    PS I dont work for them :lol:
    Haro Thread 8
    Please help!

    "It's like parkour, on a bike"
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    It may astonish you to know that given a suitable dispersion from the speaker cabinet, the stereo sweet spot is actually due to the acoustics of the room, and no amount of clever jiggery pokery can actually compensate for that.
    What the phasey systems do is acually eliminate any sharp imaging at all, so you don't notice a shift as you move about.
    You will still get standing waves at low frequencies though, causing the sound levels at different pitches to increase and decreas dramatically as you move around the room.
  • Mynameisdann
    Mynameisdann Posts: 665
    Heh speakers dont bother me, after all its polite to mute the babestation channels
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    Also, "BASS" Is not something you really want in a residential area. Or you'll get evicted! :lol:
  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    Personal opinion on this particular subject but here goes..

    1080p on a 32 inch tv is pretty much pointless over 720p. Should really have streched to 37" 1080p, only another 20 or 30 quid.

    Blu Ray is not worth it over DVD unless you are able to watch and listen as it was intended. i.e. A proper home cinema setup. These all in one systems are ok, especially on a budget and where space is tight but in reality are quite poor compared an AV receiver and seperate speakers and sub. But then, if you only watch the odd film...

    As for games console, 360 all the way for me. Even though I'm on my 9th 360 I prefer the 360 controller and the exclusive games over that of the PS3 but if none of that bothers you I'd say get a PS3 for your gaming and Blu Ray. 2 birds one stone...
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    ^^Bollocks. Even on a 24" computer screen, 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200( is a noticeable improvement over 1440x720.
  • Mynameisdann
    Mynameisdann Posts: 665
    Your on your 9th 360, i call bullshit.
  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    Call it what you like. I've had one since release, until 6 months ago played FAR to many games.

    Only one of them have had a Red Ring of Death, the others had the DVD drive stop reading discs and I sold one. So, I've only had 7 faulty ones. I went through 3 in 4 weeks at one stage!
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  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    Righto... things have 'changed' after a lot of tinterweb joggery etc and trying to get best deals etc. So now...

    PS3 ordered (a weeks wait but good price + heavy rain included)
    HDMI cable to connect above to HDTV

    But, where I am confused (yehaa - help!) is connecting all of the above to a decent sound source.

    As you know, I was going for a 5:1 set up, but now I am not. I am going for a Yamaha Reciever with an HDMI interface, and a set of JBL Control 2 monitors. I will overtime get another set of these (totalling 4) then add a decent quality centre speaker and woofer later on in the year.

    Now, what connections do I need to get my TV, my PS3/BluRay to play out of the speakers.

    The SKY+ box and the PS3 go stright into the TV via HDMI ports (I have 3 on the TV)

    How do I get both of these to play through the AV unit?

    :oops: :? :lol:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    No, I'm not helping you, since you ordered heavy rain. We've had nothing BUT heavy rain here for two months, now on the first sunny day, you order bloody more of it!


    But apart from that, if the "receiver" (god I hate that name) has HDMI inputs on it, then everything goes into them. Then, the reciever goes into the telly, and audio goes into the JBLs.
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,650
    Cheers Yehaa...

    So PS3 / Sky+ /whatever unit go into the reciever via HDMI cables, then 1x HDMI cable out to the TV?

    Shockingly simple really! :oops:
  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    ^^Bollocks. Even on a 24" computer screen, 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200( is a noticeable improvement over 1440x720.

    I woud agree on a PC screen most definitely, you are sitting on top of it, but not for Blu Ray with a TV, it simply isn't a noticable difference on 32" or below when viewed at normal distance, but of course sitting closer will help.

    See here and use the calculator at the bottom.
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  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    The Big Cheese wrote:
    Cheers Yehaa...

    So PS3 / Sky+ /whatever unit go into the reciever via HDMI cables, then 1x HDMI cable out to the TV?

    Shockingly simple really! :oops:

    That's about the size of it if your receiver has enough HDMI inputs for all your gear.
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    R0B75 wrote:
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    ^^Bollocks. Even on a 24" computer screen, 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200( is a noticeable improvement over 1440x720.

    I woud agree on a PC screen most definitely, you are sitting on top of it, but not for Blu Ray with a TV, it simply isn't a noticable difference on 32" or below when viewed at normal distance, but of course sitting closer will help.

    See here and use the calculator at the bottom.
    I still call bullcrap, that site doesn't prevent any firm "evidence", it's just justification for larger TVs.
    It's a very personal thing, but I frequently watch TV on a 24" screen, from around 10-12 feet away, and can easily spot the difference between 720 and 1080.
    Likewise, on a 42" LEDTV, I can see the difference sat at the opposite end of the living room.
  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    R0B75 wrote:
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    ^^Bollocks. Even on a 24" computer screen, 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200( is a noticeable improvement over 1440x720.

    I woud agree on a PC screen most definitely, you are sitting on top of it, but not for Blu Ray with a TV, it simply isn't a noticable difference on 32" or below when viewed at normal distance, but of course sitting closer will help.

    See here and use the calculator at the bottom.
    I still call bullcrap, that site doesn't prevent any firm "evidence", it's just justification for larger TVs.
    It's a very personal thing, but I frequently watch TV on a 24" screen, from around 10-12 feet away, and can easily spot the difference between 720 and 1080.
    Likewise, on a 42" LEDTV, I can see the difference sat at the opposite end of the living room.

    As you say its a personal thing so it's not bull really. For most people it won't be noticeable.

    I'm betting if you had idential TVs setup next to each other both playing the same Blu Ray, one playing in 720p and the other in 1080p. At a certain distance away from the screen the difference wouldn't be noticeable, the closer you moved to the screens the more detail you would be able to see. The point is, the smaller the screen the closer you'd have to be to notice that difference. So at what might be consiered "comfortable" viewing distance a smaller screen outputting 1080p might not be worth it over 720p. But of course there are those that might notice a difference, most people would not.
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  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,787
    I had a 360 elite, it went, replaced by a PS3... that PS3 won't be leaving me for a while, as yeehaamcgee says Blu-Ray is a very noticeable difference and the PS3 makes a splendid Blu-Ray player. Don't think I'll ever regret getting mine. Also nice to have iPlayer on it, not sure if the 360 has it or not but it's a factor worth considering if you might use it. Oh and it's a good games console too but its far more than that really.
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  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    Agreed.

    All round, the PS3 is probably a better console. More reliable, blu ray, free online gaming and iPlayer (360 has Sky Player, which is pants).
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  • Andy
    Andy Posts: 8,207
    PS3 is the only way to go.

    People who own 360s are statistically more likely to have a smaller penis.
  • R0B75
    R0B75 Posts: 376
    Im glad thats only statistically likely and not fact.

    What about people who own both?
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  • Andy
    Andy Posts: 8,207
    R0B75 wrote:
    What about people who own both?

    That would include me :wink:

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