>> ^berticus:
This happened to me less than a week ago. Ugh.


Me too, was yours on a month old drive?

I replaced 3 drives with a single 1TB Seagate Barracuda, and on the 31st day (damn you Best Buy) it started clanking on me.

Backups are great unless you've got several hundred GB of data to store. Life would be a lot easier if they'd find a massive storage media that doesn't require moving parts.

I tried to pick it up from best buy today. Couldn't find it.

KP, I have seen a TV from HP and 1 other brand that have built-in streaming features, but the unit was much more expensive than just buying an HDTV + game console (or that Roku player), so I would find a TV you like first.

Some other points related to some comments above:
1080p- a few years ago this cost a lot more, but nowadays it's only marginally more expensive than a 720p, many blu-ray discs are encoded 1080p, so it's worth getting a 1080p screen today. (I have a 720p LCD TV that I bought 2 years ago, and it's fine, though I use it mostly for games).
^MycroftHomlz, p (progressive vertical lines) is not dpi (dots per inch) (a 46" 720 dpi display would cost over a million dollars and have 225 times the resolution of 1080p)

120Hz- this is the new fancy feature on higher-end hdtv's. it doesn't magically make your content any better. Even the best Bluray movies are still recorded and encoded at 30fps. It will make some DVD content look better, because 120 is an even multiple of 24, whereas to display 24fps content at 60Hz (standard refresh rate of LCD's) you have to drop or add frames (called inverse-telecine) so sometimes you see tearing. So movies, sports, games, with lots of motion or many small moving details will look better. I've asked several Best Buy "tv specialists" some specific questions about 120Hz that I already knew the answers to, and NONE of them got it right. and instead of just saying "I don't know" they talked out of their ass and tried to sell me some special hdmi cable that supports 120Hz... epic lolz. If your total budget is $1500, don't waste your money on this feature.

LCD vs Plasma vs DLP- The quality depends a lot on the manufacturer. It used to be that LCD screens simply could not be made as big as plasma, but they are getting larger and cheaper each year. Plasmas still have burn-in problems (more problem for games than movies), and a shorter life span (about 7 years vs 10+ years for LCD- both assuming you use the TV several hours per day). Plasmas are also more fragile, so be careful when moving them. That said, I think the picture does look slightly better on plasma, but would still get LCD. (samsung, sony, mitsubishi- all great choices. other brands, try to look at it in person before you decide). DLP is a rear-projection TV, and I've found these to not be as crisp as LCD/plasma (sometimes the pixels blur and/or you can see horizontal scan lines). They are usually 80+ lbs vs an LCD being 30 lbs (base detached). Some people can see a flickering of the color-wheel with DLP (personally I can't, depends on lighting conditions and how sensitive your eyes are).

streaming content- if you have a PC with windows XP media center or Vista premium/ultimate, and all your content is windows compatible, an xbox-360 will make a nice front-end that you stream videos from your PC. If you use other formats, the PS3 has a better chance of playing them (also recommended since it plays bluray). I have both consoles, and the PS3 is much better at playing H.264 videos from CD-R/DVD-R and wired network. I haven't seen Roku player in person, and I don't have netflix, but it looks like a nifty device. If you subscribe to cable or fios, many of their DVR's can stream content that was recorded in other rooms.

projectors- not sure if you will find a decent 1080p one under $1500, but you can get a very large screen. Keep in mind the cost of replacing the lamp/bulb can be several hundred $$ (lamps usually last 2000+ hours in eco-mode). I have a 480p (widescreen but not high def) projector in my bedroom with an 8' diagonal screensize. Upon advice from someone else, I bought a 4'x8' foam board, and painted it with brightest white but non-glossy paint, and hung it on a wall for my screen. $380 projector + $30 screen + $37 progressive DVD player + $15 component cable + $30 black curtains. Compgeeks has a electric roll-up screen for pretty cheap.
Choosing a projector also depends on your room size, visit www.projectorcentral.com and use their calculator for any given model you are considering.

cables- buy online. someone mentioned monoprice, they are good, just check their in-stock status to be sure. they always ship ground from CA, so can be slow depending on where you live. HDMI and DVI are electrically identical, so it's a passive adapter. HDMI includes extra pair for sending digital audio. Component and VGA are analog, HDMI/DVI is digital - means more accurate colors, less ghosting/interference effects. Although analog is capable of carrying a full 1080p signal, content creators (namely Sony blu-ray) will cripple devices stating that you need HDMI to do 1080p output. This is because HDMI support encryption in the form of HDCP, which they think will reduce piracy (obviously they have been proven wrong already). fiber (sometimes called TOSlink) vs digital audio over copper (RCA jack) doesn't make a difference in quality, digital is digital. Look for a stereo receiver with many inputs and outputs.

antennas- hdtv's can pick up all the local broadcast channels with perfect picture and digital surround sound, if you get the right antenna. check www.antennaweb.org to see where channels are broadcasting relative to your home and to pick the correct antenna. It's a 1-time fee, unlike month-to-month cable/satellite. www.titantv.com is a tv-guide style website, lets you sort by broadcast type.

internet speed- 1.5Mbps should be fine, as long as you have patience to download the video before watching it. Will stream standard def no problem, but high-def or netflix downloads would take longer-than-realtime. Most services let you download in advance, so I wouldn't upgrade your 'net connection until you try it out for a month or 2.

buying online- go to best buy or walmart, and look for a screen you like, so you can see it in person. a lot of times the specs "on paper" look good, but the display is mediocre at best. Then look for exact model online, try to get a pricematch. Get the extended warranty if it's not outrageous (a single repair could be $500+ without it). We bought a 46" LCD for work from www.lcdtvs.com, they are New Jersey based, and their salespeople might try to up-sell you some cables, but we got free shipping and a free hdmi cable from them, and 3rd-party warranty was cheap (service is actually provided by best buy locally). Took about a week to arrive (western PA). If you buy online, make sure you factor in shipping costs, it could be $150+ since it's considered freight.

wireless vs wired- Roku, Wii, PS3 have wifi built in. xbox-360 is $99 for the wifi adapter (all except wii have wired ethernet built in). It's not too hard to run cat-5 cable if you are a DIY'er, but would be really expensive to get an electrician to do it. Ethernet hubs/switches are cheap, put a 4-port hub at your TV, run single cable between hub and DSL/cable/fios router, and all devices are online.

hope that helps. sorry for the long post. I'll answer specific questions if you have any.

*viral *commercial ... they say Sony about 500 times, and it and Best Buy take turns in the background.

This is good stuff. Funny tho... there's a 2-disc edition being advertised at Best Buy for 10 bucks. I may actually pick it up to see if it's in it.

I watched this movie a few times. And it's still amazing. I'm kinda sad that it didn't get any Oscars (or did it?). Then again, it was competing with Forrest Gump. Ah such a good time back then...

step 7: take your computer to Best Buy and let the Geek Squad have a look

I kid, I kid

I remember picking up the shareware copy on floppy disk at some store I had never heard of before...Best Buy.

Oh how the times are a'changing.

Yeah, both, but not by choice! I was rooting for HD-DVD in a big, big way! Not only because I programmed a couple of the WB HD-DVD titles, but because I couldn't imagine why studios would want another studio's parent (Sony owns Sony Pictures, obviously) to win the format wars. I just assumed they'd all go against Sony, but I was wrong.

In any event, I started programming HD-DVDs before market release, and I marveled at how terribly unreliable the players were - still, I bought one two months before WB decided to stop producing HD-DVD releases, which was pretty much the death of HD-DVD, fyi. The player is slow to boot and is unresponsive. It sucks. Recently, I switched to Bluray, though I refused to buy a standalone player. Instead, I bought the PS3! It rocks! Super fast boot time and super responsive! Plus, it has ethernet connection for those necessary firmware updates that you just don't get with most standalone Bluray players (though they did seem to come standard from most HD-DVD players).

As for HD-DVDs verus Bluray discs in my library? Well, the next time I go to Best Buy and purchase Batman Begins and Batman Gotham Knight I think I'll have exactly the same in HD-DVDs and Blurays, just like youdiejoe. Then again, I'm too lazy to get off my couch and go count the titles.

Note to self: Never call Best Buy's Geek Squad again.

http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=2120

“We Built This City” 24-Hour Marathon
Blender contributor Russ Heller sets a world record for sitting in a Best Buy for 24 hours while listening to the Worst Song Ever, Starship's 1985 hit, “We Built This City.” Below, the transcript of his perilous journey.

BO would make an excellent clerk at Best Buy.

President...not so much.

What ^he^ said. I think the back of his shirt says security on it, so he may be a Best Buy security guard.

Salesman or just some fat guy?
Don't forget, uniform for best buy employees is khakis and a blue polo shirt.

The Best Buy receipt checker of the real world.

>> ^E_Nygma:
dad?


ROFL! If I could give you a star for that comment, I would!