Help me go on a shopping spree: TV, digital cam, Xbox 360

[Felon]

Pretty annoyed that I still don't have options for buying the Elite yet (even preorders weren't an option). I haven't had the set delivered yet--I figured there's no point in "white glove" delivery if I don't actually have anything to--but I don't think I'm going to have the feeling it's too big. Big was what I wanted, plus my vision stinks.

I'm having a lot of trouble with the receiver. They go from under $200 to over $2000, and the difference aren't glaring. I'm not even sure why they're so essential. They only seem to be expensive hubs for plugging in peripherals. Some have 5 channels, some have 7, which doesn't seem like a big deal. Some upconvert standard-definition video, some don't. That sounds important.

 

[John Crichton]

The big thing with receivers is:

- What kind of audio can it process? DTS and Dolby Digital are musts but then you have THX approved, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD. The last two are newer formats and you want your unit to be able to process them to take advantage of either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disc.

- Like you said, the number of connections it has. Anything less than 3 component inputs and two HDMI inputs plus the usual suspects isn't worth it, IMO. You may want to consider a Home Theater in a Box for this. I picked up a great Onkyo system 3 years back that had a great receiver and better than average speakers. Takes care of the whole audio package at once.

- Price is obviously an issue. Aside from the TV itself, the receiver is the most important part of a home theater, some would argue that it's actually more important. Don't skimp here. For me, if the TV is costing $1500, the receiver can be easily half that price.

Are there any models that are catching your fancy or is it all just a mess of info right now? Because you can always skimp here for the time being and splurge later if price is an issue.

 

[Felon]

Here's the Onkyo I've been eyeballing:

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S907...3?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1177905612&sr=1-4

http://reviews.cnet.com/Onkyo_HT_S907/4505-6740_7-32127482.html?tag=pdtl-list

Apparently, the big issue folks have with it is that only upscales analog video to component video instead of HDMI video, or something like that. Anyone who understands what that means, feel free to enlighten me.

At any rate, the Xbox Elite was sold everywhere in Atlanta that I checked. I stopped by a Best Buy that claimed to have a couple left, but they were out when I got there.

 

[Arnwyn]

- Like you said, the number of connections it has. Anything less than 3 component inputs and two HDMI inputs plus the usual suspects isn't worth it, IMO.

And my opinion, too.

Upconverting: Converts a signal from a lower 'resolution' cable to a higher one. (Somebody with a more technical vocabulary might be able to provide better wording.) If a receiver upconverts, you can plug in whatever type of video cable you want into the receiver, and only one video cable needs to go from the receiver to the TV. Without upconverting, you'll for every type of cable connected to the receiver, you'll need to connect the same type of cable to the TV - and then switch the TV between the different video inputs to get to the right input that the device you currently have on is using.

Types of video cables (from poorest resolution to best):
- Composite (yellow RCA video cables)
- S-Video ('circular' kind of video input cable)
- Component (red, blue, and green cables); supports everything above 480i (includes the HD resolutions of 720p and 1080i)
- HDMI (digital video input, as well as digital audio, all in one cable); supports all video resolutions up to 1080p and is also HDCP-compliant (HD-DVD and BD DRM-related)

For example, with an upconverting receiver, you can connect a PS1 (composite) cable to your receiver (or S-video, or whatever), and only the one output cable (component or HDMI if you get a nice receiver) will carry the signal to your TV. You avoid having a mess of cables from the receiver to the TV, and you never have to change your TVs video inputs to go to the right one (eg. "Input 1" = HDMI, "Input 2" = component, "Input 3" = S-video, "Input 4" = composite...)

Since it looks like you're actually interested in the Elite (which uses HDMI), I'd recommend getting a receiver that upconverts to HDMI if you plan to have other non-HDMI devices plugged into your receiver (and if you want to spend the money...).



(Ack, that was long and convoluted, but I hope I explained it at least somewhat reasonably...)