Home Entertainment

My 5 year old LCD TV has got a line of dead pixels across about 1/5th from the top. It has been there for more than a year and the situation has gotten worst as the top portion of the TV is now more or less dimmed. I finally decided to get a replacement and so I went out price hunting. Initially I thought my options is pretty simple, either one of these LED, LCD or Plasma, just got to work out the prices, that's where I find myself very backdated when it comes to TVs.

Working out the different prices, I realise that there are different options as well and also I came across something new call DLNA or Digital Living Network Alliance..yah WTFish is that? The standard with DLNA compliance product which start with your PC is that they can actually communicate with each other..won't go into details now, but basically if your home is networked, you can get TV contents of the internet, share and view video and images off shared networked drive and etc..that would include DLNA Blue ray player and whatever.

Coming back to my choice of TV, I have my sight set on LED since the price has gone down drastically since they were first released. So now would be,what brand to choose from? Sony, Samsung, Philips, LG... after going around the usual locations like Best Denki, Courts and etc., I narrow down my choice to LG. Why? First of all, I have heard nothing bad about this brand, personally I do own a an LG DVD player, this set is about 4 years old..prior to that I have been using "budget" DVD player like Shinco and etc, last time I paid about $80 to $100 for these "budget" players and they will last me about a year or so before they either go totally kaput or they have trouble reading the DVDs or the CD. The LG player I purchased it for $125, still pretty cheap and for it to have lasted me till now with no problem on reading all type of DVDs and CDs, prove that quality wise I should be able to trust LG.

I finally set my sight on the LG LE7500, borderlss 42" LED TV, now where to go and get it? The best price so far is $1499 at Best Denki, no match from Courts or anywhere else, last Saturday I went down to check the price at Mega Superstore at Kallang Leisure Mall, they are selling it at the same price as Best Denki, only thing is what comes with the package? LG current promotion is tickets for the HSBC Women's Golf Championship.... not really keen on golf, so I tell the salesman and he offer to back date the invoice to last year so that I can qualify for last year promotion which is a year free subscription to MIO TV and also he agree to throw in a free HDMI cable. However I did not get the LE7500 but instead got the LE5500 at $1388. After looking at the detail specification, I noted two differences if not including the price... LE7500 has better design since it's borderless but the LE5500 is the first non reflective LED TV, otherwise all functionality are similiar, so I got myself the cheaper model, I can live with the border, it's not noticeable and I save a hundred bucks!. They have no stock, so I will have to tolerate the dead pixels on my LCD TV till 27 Jan.

So this the spec of the TV that I've got myself:-



Key Features:-

• LED plus

• TruMotion 100Hz

• 5,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio

• NetCast (TM)

• Wireless AV Link (Wireless ready)

• Clear Voice II

• Bluetooth

• Smart Energy Saving Plus

• Full HD 1080p

If any one of you guys are on very flat screen, sound is a big issue as these flat screen do not have the placement for good speakers, this is the LE5500 sound specs.:-

Audio Output :10W+10W
Speaker System :1 Way 2 Speakers
SoundMode : 5 Modes (SRSTSXT/Standard(User)/Cinema(User)/ Sport(User)/Game(User))
Clear Voice II: Yes
Smart Volume Leveler :Yes
Infinite Sound : Yes

I'm very sure the sound will fall flat as well, but yet to be heard so finger crossing till I get my set.

bro u can try Gain City @ AMK Industrial Park II, mayb cheaper

Howw abt mustafa ctr.comparing price n free gifts inclusive of free delivery..check it out brO...anyway they hv expanded their shop space...u gt a whole lot of LeDs to view...oopss..u oleady buy isnt it...?

Anyway back to ur LG brand.nice borderless thin LED tv u gt there..sound wise is much better with CRT tv.

Captivian_Major wrote:bro u can try Gain City @ AMK Industrial Park II, mayb cheaper

Actually Gain City was having their sale at Expo last Saturday, I did drop by and they "lelong" the LG TV very cheap...LCD TV for 50" going for $1188, and 42" only for $500 but lelong they let go old stock but the model I want they never lelong leh...

starstruck96 wrote:Howw abt mustafa ctr.comparing price n free gifts inclusive of free delivery..check it out brO...anyway they hv expanded their shop space...u gt a whole lot of LeDs to view...oopss..u oleady buy isnt it...?

SO far I think only Besk Denki and Mega offer the lowest for LG, this was confirm by one "apek" who was at Best Denki looking at TVs... as for Mustafa, maybe can get cheaper but if no waranty no point la since I'm using it locally at least I need some peace of mind if the TV goes kaput at least got backup can sent in for warranty claim.

starstruck96 wrote:Anyway back to ur LG brand.nice borderless thin LED tv u gt there..sound wise is much better with CRT tv.

I didn't get the boderless model which is the LE7500 and cost an extra $100 because of the reflective screen, the one I got is with the border but with the world's first non-reflective screen, so I should have no problem putting up the TV in my living room near the window.

As for sound, many reviews says flat screen TV sound are crap, not an issue for me, all I need to do is just hook up to my existing home theater set up which is an amp with 2.1 speaker system..i.e. two front speaker and a center speaker.

However reading through all the internet pages, I come across what is known as the "soundbar". It's something like a center speaker which you put infront of the TV and will create a virtual " 5.1 home theater sound system", not as good as the actual one but will do for my case. Also less wire clutter, ...my wife nagging me to get rid of my two giant front speakers, so I might opt for the soundbar, any of you guys have any input on these soundbars, not much models for consideration but the leading brands seem to point to Philips, Samsung, LG, Sony and Yamaha.

Wah bro, another new toy.. U seemed to have very expensive play things.. I was into this home entertainment thing some years back. Burnt a huge hole in my pocket but never really got to enjoy the acoustics as wife will scream when i play music loud. In the end, due to irregular use, one by one the components just break down. Now just the basic dvd set up is fine with me. Enjoy your new toys...

Ikon wrote:

starstruck96 wrote:Howw abt mustafa ctr.comparing price n free gifts inclusive of free delivery..check it out brO...anyway they hv expanded their shop space...u gt a whole lot of LeDs to view...oopss..u oleady buy isnt it...?

SO far I think only Besk Denki and Mega offer the lowest for LG, this was confirm by one "apek" who was at Best Denki looking at TVs... as for Mustafa, maybe can get cheaper but if no waranty no point la since I'm using it locally at least I need some peace of mind if the TV goes kaput at least got backup can sent in for warranty claim.

with my current setup in room is 5.1 channel SAMSUNG ..got it free wen i purchased LCD TV +- 2 years back.
warranty wise is good for a year....probs will start to arrise after that..called back Samsung quote me on repairing for no power is $60.damn...that Ex lor...
anyway is a good setup u are aiming for...esp with DNLA thingy.
SoundBar wise...like u mention....its a bit EX and sound quality unlike those 5.1 OR 6.1 channels.
maybe a BOSE set will be a good setup for U.

starstruck96 wrote:

Ikon wrote:

starstruck96 wrote:Howw abt mustafa ctr.comparing price n free gifts inclusive of free delivery..check it out brO...anyway they hv expanded their shop space...u gt a whole lot of LeDs to view...oopss..u oleady buy isnt it...?

SO far I think only Besk Denki and Mega offer the lowest for LG, this was confirm by one "apek" who was at Best Denki looking at TVs... as for Mustafa, maybe can get cheaper but if no waranty no point la since I'm using it locally at least I need some peace of mind if the TV goes kaput at least got backup can sent in for warranty claim.

with my current setup in room is 5.1 channel SAMSUNG ..got it free wen i purchased LCD TV +- 2 years back.
warranty wise is good for a year....probs will start to arrise after that..called back Samsung quote me on repairing for no power is $60.damn...that Ex lor...
anyway is a good setup u are aiming for...esp with DNLA thingy.
SoundBar wise...like u mention....its a bit EX and sound quality unlike those 5.1 OR 6.1 channels.
maybe a BOSE set will be a good setup for U.

Not likely a Bose la bro, some audiophile are saying a Bose is just paying for the name, components are made in China and design in US or somewhere, sound quality no better than a Sony, so I'm not going there... really lookinmg for something cheap and will serve the purpose is what I'm aiming for.

Gd luck in ur adventure searching bro...cheers

Hopefully I'm going to enjoy the hunt....
..........anyway I was at Best Denki City Sq Mall and I came across this



Specification:-
Total Power 40 Watts RMS Woofer: 20 Watts
Mid-Ranger: 10 Watts x 2
Frequency Response: 68 - 20KHz
Speaker Unit Driver: Woofer: 4” Mid-Ranger: 3”
S/N: ≥ 55dB Input Sensitivity:
Woofer: 280mV
Mid-Ranger: 550mV

Features:-
Easy to Install Home Theatre System for LCD and Plasma TVs Real Subwoofer with 20 Watts RMS Power PLUS MaxxBass Technology Room-Filling Virtual Surround Sound Technology from MaxxSurround Technology Powerful Left, Right, Front Channels for Great MTVs and Engaging Movie Dialogue Futuristic Look and Feel with Subtle, Non-Instrusive Digital Front Panel Design Matching and Stylish Wireless Remote Control with Intuitive Layout Switch Effortlessly between 3 sets of Input: CD, DVD and TV Auxillary Input for Convenient Play Back from Portable Devices

All this for:-
$199 Soundbar with woofer!

Price wise is great catch...specs wise...not too sure unless u audit b4 purchasing..cheap sekali flat sounds..anyway sonic array is whar brand ar?local?

Yup, price is cheap, if I got no requirement for sure I jump this brand, anyway this looks like a local company, more information at [url=http://www.sonicgear.com.sg ]www.sonicgear.com.sg [/url]. However looking at the logo, reminds me of Creative, anyway this brand is only marketed in Asia and Europe and non for America.

If you want to go cheaper, there is also the Sharp soundbar HTS200





This doesn't come with woofer and now having sales at $159.00

So it was my birthday, and this is what I got myself!



As part of my new home entertainment set-up, I have decided to try something totally new to me. Cost? Got it at Challenger and since I'm a member and has got over 3000 points, I decided to cash in the points for $40 worth of Challenger voucher. On hand I also have another CapitaMall voucher worth $30 give to me by my Rec Club which is redeemable at Challenger, so total cost to me:-

WD Live TV Hub with 1TB storage space - $ 319
Member pays = $314
Less carpark = $314 -$2 = $312
Less CapitaMall Voucher = $312 - $30 = $282
Less Challenger voucher = $282 - 40 = $242

I write a review on this product once I play around with it.

Nice.yummy.1 terra.few hundred movies to watch on demand.

starstruck96 wrote:Nice.yummy.1 terra.few hundred movies to watch on demand.

More like a thousands of movies if you have the time to upload

well..unless u want to download movies everyday..got no time to watch also..
thousand movies can watch until bored..

pussy_lover wrote:Wah bro, another new toy.. U seemed to have very expensive play things.. I was into this home entertainment thing some years back. Burnt a huge hole in my pocket but never really got to enjoy the acoustics as wife will scream when i play music loud. In the end, due to irregular use, one by one the components just break down. Now just the basic dvd set up is fine with me. Enjoy your new toys...

Might need to dig your ears and expertise on the sound system. I just realize that I haphazardly connect my amp, DTS decorder, DVD player..... paiseh, no wonder nothing comes out from system previously, anyway I have already figure what goes where, only thing now is I'm torn between a soundbar and a true HT system... so what would be your advise.. main priority would be budget and no big speakers and lesser wires.

woah..the term "DIG ur EARS" seems playfully & cheekily used..
anyway "he's" the MaN..
nowadays he oso BZ lar...less time to njoy forum postings.hehe

starstruck96 wrote:woah..the term "DIG ur EARS" seems playfully & cheekily used..
anyway "he's" the MaN..
nowadays he oso BZ lar...less time to njoy forum postings.hehe

No la, infact anyone also can contribute if they want to share.

Right now, I'm torn between either the soundbar or the HT system. My current set-up, I have a Rotel DTS decoder, Dolby decoder and a Marantz receiver with 2 tall front speakers and a center speaker. With going HT System, I can keep the speakers and get rid of the rest of the equipment by replacing it with a AV Receiver. My 2 tall speakers are Venturi speakers, seem that my wife says these are taking up space, same with the center speaker.

The soundbar will replace everything but I can still use the decoders and the receiver, in term of cost they are around the same, only thing is that with HT system, there's room for expansion. So if I get the soundbar, it will be a one time investment, but with I go with the HT system, I will upgrade the components gradually, first thing I do is to get the AV receiver and upgrage the speakers eventually. Any suggestion?

Total noob on the equipments.juz pleasure of hooking it up n listening to the nice clarity sounds emit.shall wait for the 'MAN' to post.anyway..the aV receiver thingy..get the originals ones..nowadays lots if fake local goods on sale.yamaha will be a good start..juz my 1 cents opinion

Whoa now in total delima, the HT system looks more affordable now...spend some time calling up the more reputable audio houses, initially though of changing my center speaker since it's so big and looking for a more slimmer version and end up got a few offers:-

1. DHT-1311XP - Complete set with AV and speakers from Denon - $899 (RCP)
Link here

Most probably can get cheaper, so call up the dealers and it looks like the don't carry this model, one shop counter offer with

2. Denon AVR -1911 (comes with free JBL SCS180 speakers) - $990
Link Here

3. Denon AVR -1311 and Boston Acoustic Speakers - ard $1100-1200

Looks like the soundbar set is getting further away from my sight...

Here is the reason why I have to upgrade my TV set:-
Don't know if you guys can see it, in Pic. 1 & 2 the horizontal line is below the lady's neck. There is nothing wrong with the channel, but my TV has got dead pixel.



Click on the images for the bigger picture!