gibbie

The current limitations you mention are exactly why I qualified my statement with the need for ample bandwidth at a reasonable cost. While I haven't experienced fiber level performance yet, I'll hold out hope that this provides some promise. No question that current technology is not suitable for acceptable on-demand services.

If your questions relate to the 'why would anyone need to own media', why would I need a backup? The service provider would be responsible for the backup. As long as I can access the movie or audio, I wouldn't need to store anything locally. My existing backups are the original media. If I loose a hard drive, it is my responsibility to reload the files. If I simply access the files on-demand, I no longer have a need to back anything up.

I strongly agree with the previous statement regarding why anyone needs to own the actual media. But I should also add that I have never downloaded an mp3 or other audio file. So I firmly believe that once the bandwidth and availability issues are worked out, why would I ever have to buy a DVD or CD again? I rip my DVD's and CD's to my HTPC so everything I own is a click away. I find that I watch more movies and listen to more music than ever before. I can listen to any of my music throughout the house (using an FM transmitter) and using my smartphone as a bluetooth remote, I have album art and playlists at my fingertips. And I can't remember the last time I watched a TV show live. Again, give me the choice of what to watch and when. My issue with current sources (iTunes, Netflix Watch Now, etc) are that I give up quality for availability. Give me a Media Center like interface (keep it simple, please) and the quality of a DVD-A or SACD or HD DVD and unlimited viewing and I'll be the first in line. Of course the price will be the determining factor. If it's too expensive, I'll continue to simply buy the CD's and DVD's and add them to my HTPC. If the on-demand price doesn't come close to what I normally spend each month for the hard media, what is the incentive to go with an on-demand service? I'll be happy to pay more for the convenience of not having to wait for the Netflix shipment or driving to the local CD store. The reason I went with a HTPC was due to the storage issue of my DVD's and CD's. I'd be happy to never have to touch a disc or case again. Of course HTPC's have a long way to go before they are ready for the average home.

Is it a DVD Audio or a DVD video? I guess I'm off to Deep Discount to see what's available. I have the CD and agree that he still has it. I was somewhat disappointed that the more I listen to it, the more each song seems to begin the same but then that is his signature style. Recommended.

I'll be curious to see if Netflix makes a choice one way or the other. I still think that it will be the adult movie industry that determines the winner. Much the same as they were the first industry that found a way to be profitable on the internet. You could probably look back and find a connection to the adult industry regarding the beta vs vhs battle. The broadcast industry continued to use beta long past the point that the consumer market chose vhs.

When I had my TV calibrated, the tech and I found that the 480p setting on my Oppo 981 actually produced a better picture on my TV than the 1080p setting. So I would agree that the quality of conversion will vary across devices. I understand the Reon chip in the XA2 upscales SD discs very well. I'm staying on the fence myself because I can't see buying discs in one format only to risk having to buy them again in the event my format loses. I still have my collection of Beta tapes.

Note that it doesn't output 1080p or include analog outputs. The lack of these features will not be a major factor for most people but it is something to consider.

I don't use any sound card on my HTPC. I use the optical connection directly from the motherboard to my receiver. The receiver handles the surround decoding.

During the calibration of my 60" XBR2, the calibrator and I found the color and black levels to actually be better using the 480p setting on my Oppo 981 than the 1080 settings (using HDMI). The person doing the calibration suggested this may be due to the quality of the XBR2. I'm tempted to hook my Panasonic RP91 up again to see how it compares to the Oppo even though it only has component connections.

I'd be happy to take them off your hands but Chicago is too far from Arlington.

A new 60" XBR2 was the present I gave myself. Now if Santa would only bring me an Academy, I'd be done. Well....at least for the moment.

As Jeff said above, it really depends on what you watch the most. If you primarily watch standard definition TV (including DVD's), an EDTV can be a better choice than an HDTV. One of HDTV's limitations is their ability to display a good standard definition picture. Some are better than others. And depending on your viewing distance, an EDTV can display a very high quality HD picture.

I seconds Mike's recommendation for this booster. My broadband modem recently started having problems staying connected. I tried everything including running new coax. Only when I connected this boosted did my problems go away. I haven't had one problem with a dropped broadband connection since. I'm not using it for cable TV so I can only comment on the improvement in data performance.

You may need to move quickly if you are looking for a RP CRT. Most of the vendors are slimming their CRT's down to one or two models. I wasn't ready to replace my 45" CRT but as Mitsubishi will reportly only offer one model in their 2006 line, I may have to look into the 2005 65" model. My personal opinion is that the newer technologies need another year or two to mature. Of course, like everything else in audio and video, everyone must decide for themselves what looks / sounds good to them.

I'm looking for a center match for my black Chorus II's. If you are looking to part with one of your Academy's, I'd be interested. Thanks.

Good thing they have very low hours on them.

Make that 6.

My 45" Mits projection TV has been in use for 10 years and is still going strong. I have at least 6 friends that also have Mits projection TV's from 1 year to 5 years old and none have had any problems. I don't know of anyone with a Toshiba for comparison. I can't wait to move into my new house so I can replace the 45 with the Mits 65. FWIW, I also have a 27" Mits that is about 15 years old without a problem.

Of course you had to endure Don Kirschners voice as he introduced the bands. Otherwise, yes, those were some fun shows to watch.

I saw Musical Box about a week ago and found it to be an interesting show. This is a Genesis cover band that performs a 'note accurate' rendition of Genesis shows. The current show is the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour. They are using the actual slides from the original show. The props are re-creations but were up to the quality of the original show. The sound was pretty poor and very localized to the center of the auditorium. Otherwise I would suggest that if you get the chance to see the show, that you see it.

I have the Denon 5803 and Chorus II's. I have my subwoofer setting as LFE (only). Considering the Chorus II's can handle the main bass reproduction, I thought it was unnecessary to route this through the subwoofer. Of course my BagEnd recommends routing all main output through the InfraSub but I think the Denon handles the filtering and routing just fine. This would seem to bypass some of the advanced processing of the InfraSub but I am happy with the setup as-is.

I lost my father when I was one so I never got the pleasure of knowing him. To this day I enjoy hearing about him from his friends and family. All of the memories shared by the group prove that we are all here for a very short time and should remember how previous life is. Everything else pales in comparison. Thanks, Chris for sharing the commencement speech. My thoughts are with you and your family Steve. Alex

The Panasonic RP91 is one of the players (progressive scan) that does not have the chroma bug. It is a single disc player. I've been very pleased with its performance. It is also higher than you wanted to spend. I got it for 500 including shipping.