Costco has the AOC L42H861 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for sale at $799 (original price: $1,000) while supplies last. PC World has a review of the AOC L42H761, which is essentially the same television. The Costco version, the L42H861, has a much better looking television stand (very Sumsung-ish). Prices are getting pretty low for large LCDs, it will be interesting to see what kind of deals there will be on Black Friday 2008.
Link to Bargain:
AOC 42-inch HDTV for $799 at Costco.
Helpful Links:
PC World’s review of the AOC L42H761.
Engadget HD post about the AOC L42H861.
Official AOC website.
If you’re looking for the best HD picture out there and have around $5,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you might be interested in Pioneer’s latest challenge for king of the HD hill, the 2008 Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111FD. Gary Merson, aka the HD Guru, has given the set a thorough technical review. Gary compared the 2008 Pioneer Kuro Elite with another “best HDTV evar”, the Panasonic TH-PZ850U. According to Gary, the Pioneer Kuro Elite has the darkest blacks he’s seen yet, too dark to even measure with his instrumentation. Does that sound ridiculous to you? Overall, Gary says the 2008 Kuro pretty much wipes up the floor with the Panasonic. Check out his review over at HDGuru.com.
Link:
The HD Guru reviews the 2008 Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-11FD 1080p plasma.
TiVo is offering a “web special” that features a factory-renewed HD TiVo for $179. It comes with a one-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee. Deal is good while supplies last.
The TiVo HD DVR records 20 hours of HD content or 180 hours of standard def. It can record two shows at once and connect to your home network to access and download online content including movies.
Deal Link:
Web Specials at TiVo.com.
Official TiVo Blog post about the deal.
Helpful Links:
PC World review of the TiVo HD DVR.
CNET review.
The only way to know how good of a television you have is to push it to its limits. Here are four DVDs to add to your library that will challenge your HDTV while also entertaining you:
The Fifth Element
This DVD has become the classic demo disc for home theater. The movie features the whole enchilada when it comes to movie sensory perception. The detailed and saturated visuals run the gamut of colors, and the soundtrack makes brilliant use of 5.1 audio, featuring a dynamic range of both highs and lows along with hundreds of individual sound effects. The disc is also good for experimentation if you want to mess around with your TV’s picture settings. Check out the Ultimate Edition for the best version.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
An early scene in this disc features the ship HMS Surprise sailing through a heavy fog at dawn as it’s being hunted by another ship. This challenging scene, with its range of grays, will test your TV’s ability to show grayscale, white balance, and subtle shadings. Lesser TV sets may display banding in these scenes. The movie is also a classic, well worth having in your library.
U-571
This disc will push your subwoofer to its limits, particularly in the scenes featuring depth charges. The picture has a pure film look and is filled with low-saturation colors. Plasma owners, in particular, can test their black levels on the dimly-lit scenes on the sub.
Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl
With its gorgeously detailed costume and set design, this DVD is perfect for testing your TV’s ability to show detail. It’s also good for testing the deinterlacing quality of your DVD player vs the one in your HDTV. Compare and contrast tiny details like the hairs in Captain Jack Sparrow’s dreads. If you own a Blu-ray player and you’re feeling especially nerdy, rent both the Blu-ray and DVD versions to see how much more detail you’re getting for your $1,000 Blu-ray player.
