**Dead**Samsung HDTV receiver SIR-TS160 ~528.60 DEL!! HOT!

[vfrjim]

$528.60 Delivered!

Found via Techbargins. Also, $50 rebate available with antenna purchase from Samsung.

Jim

 

[LilBlinbBlahIce]

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but Time Warner cable rents out HDTV decoder boxes for $5 a month. At this price you could rent the thing for 8.81 years. I'm sure prices will come down a lot a long time before then. A good deal if you need it, I guess.

 

[Abem3]

Unfortunately, some of us are served by Adelphia....

 

[derby]

that is a satellite receiver... just so ya know...

 

[joeld]

not sure about the one you can rent, but this samsung model is one of the best - pulls OTA (off the air) HDTV from your local stations, as well as satellite. good price too

 

[LilBlinbBlahIce]

My bad, hope no one thought I was crapping on this thread, it is a good deal

 

[bobofoosh]

This is a really good deal...if it wasn't for the rumors of an HDDirecTivo I'd jump on this.

 

[Rajjneef]

Originally posted by: bobofoosh
This is a really good deal...if it wasn't for the rumors of an HDDirecTivo I'd jump on this.

Then you better jump because it will be a while before you see any HD DirctTivo. Dish might have their version middle to late this year.

 

[dosman]

I'm not sure what brand it is, but CostCo has a HDTV receiver for $400.00. I was getting ready to purchase a 52 inch HDTV that was 1499 after 100 mir. and they told me I had to drop another 400.00 on a reciever. That turned me away!

 

[vulcanman]

This whole HDTV receiver pricing is a big rip-off.

I get TimeWarner cable and the HD box is rented out for $5 a month. I can assure you that Scientific Atlanta sells these boxes to TW for $100 or less a pop.

The profit margin on this $600 receiver is huge for Samsung ... and for others who make them.

I can imagine spending $600 on one if we had a few dozen HD channels. But thats not the case. We at TW get 2 channels of HBO and 2 channels of Showtime and 1 channel each of CBS-HD and PBS-HD.

You will shocked to know that these broadcasters could care less about what they put on the HD channels ... 80% of the shows on HBO and Showtime on non-HD. You would think they would put good HD shows during primetime ... WRONG !! ... (check out your TV schedule). The other day I noticed that "Dances with Wolves" in HD was scheduled for a Monday mid-afternoon ... while a non-HD documentary was scheduled for prime-time. This happens time and time again.

PBS-HD is a complete joke. They have very few HD documentaries that are looped ... and if they show one during primetime ... consider yourself as winning the jackpot.

We, the HD followers, are worth nothing to the big guns in the TV business. Wake UP !

 

[Packy]

Damn these things are expensive! I'm glad I don't have a need for one yet... I'm stuck with my non-HDTV 36" Sony Vega.

 

[kki000]

i dont think you guys appreciate what this box can do.. dvi out!!

most new hdtvs now come with this type of connection, but i believe this is the first consumer set top box with dvi OUT.

all inputs up this point, even component, rgb+hv or whatever has been analog.
Using dvi will maintain a true digital signal path from your source to the display.
Not quite so important with crt based displays, but for those with digital display devices dlp, lcos or lcd, this thing is the holy grail. The removal of an additional digital to analog stage in the video processing is an enormous benefit.

Not only will it enhance hidef channels, but standard ones too. From the reports on avsforum re the samsung dlp sets, the dvi input makes a huge improvement on the quality of the regular channels on directv.

I am ordering this right now for my sister and her samsung dlp set, which has yet to arrive..

if you dont need the dvi out, there are defintely less expensive methods to decode hd, like hd add in card which can be had for 300 or less.
K

 

[dosman]

I think we can appreciate what the boxes can do, but for $600 bucks, I would rather take a cruise through the Bahamas! I will invest in one when the price drops along with the HDTVs.

 

[Rajjneef]

Originally posted by: vulcanman
This whole HDTV receiver pricing is a big rip-off.

... 80% of the shows on HBO and Showtime on non-HD. You would think they would put good HD shows during primetime ... WRONG !! ... !

You are wrong... The ratio is nowhere near 80% Go to http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html to see what is on each day. HBO has some great movies in HD. SUPERBOWL in HD.. Thats all I got to say about that.

 

[Woz]

Originally posted by: dosman
I'm not sure what brand it is, but CostCo has a HDTV receiver for $400.00. I was getting ready to purchase a 52 inch HDTV that was 1499 after 100 mir. and they told me I had to drop another 400.00 on a reciever. That turned me away!

That's cheap, I spent twice as much for my HDTV. (but it will look twice as good )

 

[vulcanman]

You are wrong... The ratio is nowhere near 80% Go to http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html to see what is on each day. HBO has some great movies in HD. SUPERBOWL in HD.. Thats all I got to say about that.

Hmm ... did you ever notice that a day has 24 hours .... of which primetime is considered the time when one expects these HD movies to be broadcast ?

Lets look at Showtime HD for tonite .... (all times Eastern)

Dances With Wolves PG13 (4:45pm, UPCON & DD5.1)
Queer As Folk # 210 TVMA (10:00pm, UPCON & DD5.1)
Power And Beauty TV14 (1:35am, 1080i & DD5.1)

Hmm ... they could have put "Dances with Wolves" during the primetime hour ... moreover the HD movie is at 1:35AM !

HBO does better today by showing "Turbulence R (8:00pm ET, 1080i)".

If they really were serious about HD ... they would broadcast it as a independant channel instead of broadcasting the same programming simultaneously on two channels (I dont think that saves any bandwidth). Tying it to the regular channel is undermining the strength of the HD audience.

Does Discovery broadcast the same programs on HD and non-HD ... I don't think so. Unfortunately, cable does not carry it yet

As for Superbowl ... its a show put on by rich snooty atheletes ... and watched by overweight suckers who are the target audience for the beer companies. I would rather watch "African - Serengeti" on HD ... thank you.

 

[JoshMKiV]

No cable-HDTV box, that I know of, includes OTA (over-the-air) inputs. OTA is very important (and amazing) in many areas. Example, Comcast in Philadelphia does not include all channels that can be had, for FREE, via OTA. So while I may be a fool for paying $900 for a great HDTV box (Sat + OTA), I get some amazing TV that I would not get with cable alone (which I also pay for, so I am somewhat informed in my comments).

Cheers,

Josh

 

[chuenl]

I have heard that High-Definition ESPN will begin in April.

Detail there.

 

[tigerbait]

Originally posted by: chuenl
I have heard that High-Definition ESPN will begin in April.

Detail there.

sweet

 

[Rajjneef]

Originally posted by: vulcanman

You are wrong... The ratio is nowhere near 80% Go to http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html to see what is on each day. HBO has some great movies in HD. SUPERBOWL in HD.. Thats all I got to say about that.

Hmm ... did you ever notice that a day has 24 hours .... of which primetime is considered the time when one expects these HD movies to be broadcast ?

Lets look at Showtime HD for tonite .... (all times Eastern)

Dances With Wolves PG13 (4:45pm, UPCON & DD5.1)
Queer As Folk # 210 TVMA (10:00pm, UPCON & DD5.1)
Power And Beauty TV14 (1:35am, 1080i & DD5.1)

Hmm ... they could have put "Dances with Wolves" during the primetime hour ... moreover the HD movie is at 1:35AM !

HBO does better today by showing "Turbulence R (8:00pm ET, 1080i)".

If they really were serious about HD ... they would broadcast it as a independant channel instead of broadcasting the same programming simultaneously on two channels (I dont think that saves any bandwidth). Tying it to the regular channel is undermining the strength of the HD audience.

Does Discovery broadcast the same programs on HD and non-HD ... I don't think so. Unfortunately, cable does not carry it yet

As for Superbowl ... its a show put on by rich snooty atheletes ... and watched by overweight suckers who are the target audience for the beer companies. I would rather watch "African - Serengeti" on HD ... thank you.

Sounds like you have issues.. Please hurry and sell your equipment(if you acutally have any) before you give the rest of the HDTV crowd a bad name. You hate rich athletes. Sorry.. maybe if the dems have their way you can get more of an income tax break even though you probably dont pay anything. You said 80% were not HD.. I proved you wrong. Next?

And this is a decent price for this box. I paid much more for my stuff.

 

[vulcanman]

You said 80% were not HD.. I proved you wrong.

Today on Showtime HD ... the only shows that is 1080i is....

Power And Beauty TV14 (1:35am, 1080i & DD5.1) ... which is actually tomorrow early morning. They had Robocop early early morning today on Showtime (12:30am) ... and its a HD movie.

Hmm ... 80% was too linient in this case

We need a dedicated HD only movie channel ... which would show only HD shows. Is that too unreasonable to ask ? Why pair it with a regular non-HD channel and pipe the same programs to both !! Geez !

I don't hate rich athletes ... they and their managers are good businessmen. I hate ignorant folks who don't realize that slick marketing has triviliazed our society and our educational system ... I will step down from the box now

I say this again ... $400 is a good price to pay if you get enough HD channels to do the investment justice.

I have a Toshiba HDTV ... and one could argue that spending $4000 on that would be unwise ... but then came along progressive DVD ... and *that* made it a reasonable buy.

 

[douglassirk]

alot of times those schedules are wrong... for instance unless i am very mistaken the dances with wolves they keep showing is not an upconvert but a real hd print..... i also find alot of movies not listed as hd on schedule sites as ending up in hd when i watch... i'd say its not 80% non...... probably closer to 45-50% hd

 

[vfrjim]

You may think this STB is expensive, but go an price a Sony HD200, $799, maybe you can get 10% off somewhere, NO ONE is discounting them. This box is going for $520-575 on ebay, used and new, so get it while it's hot, I paid $549 about a month ago.

Jim

PS: a $400 box isn't always a good deal, if it is the panasonic (low end one) run like the wind, noisy fan, tuner issues etc

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: vulcanman

We need a dedicated HD only movie channel ... which would show only HD shows. Is that too unreasonable to ask ? Why pair it with a regular non-HD channel and pipe the same programs to both !! Geez !

is HBO-HD not dedicated enough? most of its movies are shown in HD - and you can only show so many 2.x hour movies in a 2-4 hour primetime slot...

showtime HD has nothing on HBO HD. they even show original programming on Hbo Hd - such as Band of Brothers and the sporanos.

and why has CBS with its numerous primetime sitcoms that are ALL in HD not been mentioned? - every night you have at least 2 hours of HD. also this year they showed a SEC college football game every weekend for the entire season, and the two sundays before christmas they had on NCAA college basketball. ALL in HD.

ABC and NBC also broadcast a number of shows in HD.

 

[Matt L]

I have to agree here, there is more HD content than I can watch. All of ABC and CBS filmed series, 1/3 of NBCs stuff, PBS, WB, HBO HD, HDNET, the 24 hour HD PPV channel, etc. etc. etc. The content IS there, the quality IS there, and more and more the availability IS there. All the people whining about is are just justifying their reasoning why they shouldn't by the equipment.

If you don't want to spend the bucks fine, that's your choice, don't bother me, -- I'm enjoying my wide screen HD TV with a tuner!