Hi, My fiancee and I will be getting married in July, so we are in the process of sorting out our new home. So I've been looking around all the various electrical stores (online & offline) for a good HD LCD TV, but I just can't get my head round all the choices. My specs would be something like: HD ready Built in Freeview receiver DVI in to hook up a Mac mini As you can see, I don't really know what to look for. Any advice would really be appreciated.
Sorry I can't suggest any, but judging by your wish list, I'm in the same boat. Also getting a Mac Mini for a home entertainment server type simple deal. Not wanting to drag this off topic but do you have any feedback on the Mini's capabilities of Video on bigger screens? BTW There's loads of Freeview options to hook up into the Mini itself, so you can use it as a stand alone VCR as well.
It's a pretty complicated market isn't it, especially the way multiple manufacturers use the same brand of LCD panel. At the moment I think I'm either going for a Sony Bravia or a Philips 32", but not sure. Even though the new Intel Mac mini has an integrated GPU, I've seen results over at Arstechnica which would indicate that it is not as bad a performer as you would think. As long as it can stream music and maybe a few episodes of Lost then I'll be grand. Have you found anywhere with decent impartial reviews? I logged into Which online expecting to find a cornucopia of advice only to be sorely disappointed.
I think high definition tvs are a rip, especially if you are buying from an electronics store. I would much rather spend that money on a high end laptop. However, if I was in the market to by a LCD tv, the first place I'd look would be Craigs List. You can probably find someone in your town selling a high end big screen tv for much lower the retail value you will pay when shopping at the mall or mainstream electronics stores.
We always had Phillips TVs and they always lasted for many many years. Our first colour TV even for 12 years or so before the sound decided to die. No, I haven't found any old vs new Mini comparison's. When working with PCs a lot I always found that a somewhat slower CPU with a dedicated, good GPU would perform better in the graphics department. And Mac Mini's can be bought from eBay for about £300 if you are OK with the 1.42 Ghz G4 which has the Radeon 64mb 9200 Gfx card which I suspect can handle large screens better than the on board Intel but I can't state this with any certainty. The remote that comes with the Intel ones is very nice though...
Yeah the remote is cool I agree, but the integrated GPU might let the side down. Check this out ... http://www.lifehacker.com/software/feature/getting-to-done-pimp-your-mac-mini-158677.php
Just read that via Digg. See my other thread where I posted links to a performance comparison. I think I'd rather get two second hand G4s than one new Dual Intel.
In terms of decent screens, I've been looking at Pioneer Plasma screens. pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=11823&taxonomy_id=62-63 (No live links). I've been to see a whole bunch of screens in the flesh, and this (by far) pisses all over the competition. As a side note, if you are looking to use the screen manly for watching films/television, don't go for an LCD... The refresh rates simply aren't quick enough to cope with fast movement and you'll get some pretty heavy onion skinning... Plasma isn't perfect by any means, but it sure as hell looks better than LCD (For the time being at least).
dont really have any advice on the lcd screen as i am not int he position to afford one. However i find a chipped xbox makes a fantastic media centre, i have a 250 gig hardrive installed into mine, and it plays pretty much any media format i have put in it. I think it will stream media from you pc to the xbos too, though i have not tried that i just ftp stuff over to it. The best bit about it is you can pick up a second hand xbox for a bargain