T
trevshaw
Guest
Hi,
Im new to AV Forums, having come across it whilst researching what LCD TV to buy. Ive been reading through various threads to find answers to my questions and have decided to start my own thread I just hope its in the right place, if not a moderator will be able to help me please.
My existing setup receiver must be over 6 years old now and consists of a Sony CRT TV, a Sony DVD recorderRDR-GX3 and a Sony Digibox sky receiver and think its time to join the world of HDTV.
After a lot of research Ive decided (I think) to buy a Samsung LE40A856 as it has received some very good reviews and seems to be able to do all that I want, which is to watch TV in better quality and to share photos and music stored on my PC. Unfortunately the PC is ion another room and I dont have a cabled network, but will probably try to use the existing router via a wireless connection.
Id like to change to using a hard disk to record TV programs rather than DVDs and thought maybe a Sky+ HD receiver would do the job. However, reading the forums it seems that the box offered by Sky is unreliable and noisy, plus you have to pay a subscription to view the HD channels, which dont seem very numerous at the moment. I came across another HD TV receiver with a built-in hard disk made by Humax, which seems to be a cheaper and better option than Sky, except that it receives the Freeview broadcasts. That wouldnt be a problem for me as I only watch the free channels, and it might be better than having to buy an use a free to air card from Sky periodically. The one possible stopper for this is that, as I live in France, I need to be sure that I can receive the Freeview channels via the satellite dish without having to re-align it. Can anyone confirm or deny that for me, please?
To share photos and music on the PC I need some way to connect it to the TV. Again, looking on the web I discovered that Samsung sell a wireless dongle but the reviews for it werent good and most recommended a wired connection. Its possible I may be able to do this in the future, but wondered if anyone on this forum had any experience or advice to offer.
A relative has this capability but he has a wired network installed in his home and uses 2 digital TV cards in his PC and uses Windows media Centre to stream photos and TV recordings through an X-Box360 as a streamer to the TV. Hes very pleased with his system but I think it might be a bit over-engineered for me - I dont want to add TV cards to the PC or buy an Xbox360 and would be content to record TV programmes to the Humax or maybe another device.
Finally, although a surround sound system is a future possibility I plan to connect the TV to my existing Denon stereo system using the red/white cable pairs (not sure what theyre called). For the other connections, until/if I get a Humax receiver Ill use the SCART connectors as at present.
Any advice on any of the above would be very welcome, and thanking you in advance.
Im new to AV Forums, having come across it whilst researching what LCD TV to buy. Ive been reading through various threads to find answers to my questions and have decided to start my own thread I just hope its in the right place, if not a moderator will be able to help me please.
My existing setup receiver must be over 6 years old now and consists of a Sony CRT TV, a Sony DVD recorderRDR-GX3 and a Sony Digibox sky receiver and think its time to join the world of HDTV.
After a lot of research Ive decided (I think) to buy a Samsung LE40A856 as it has received some very good reviews and seems to be able to do all that I want, which is to watch TV in better quality and to share photos and music stored on my PC. Unfortunately the PC is ion another room and I dont have a cabled network, but will probably try to use the existing router via a wireless connection.
Id like to change to using a hard disk to record TV programs rather than DVDs and thought maybe a Sky+ HD receiver would do the job. However, reading the forums it seems that the box offered by Sky is unreliable and noisy, plus you have to pay a subscription to view the HD channels, which dont seem very numerous at the moment. I came across another HD TV receiver with a built-in hard disk made by Humax, which seems to be a cheaper and better option than Sky, except that it receives the Freeview broadcasts. That wouldnt be a problem for me as I only watch the free channels, and it might be better than having to buy an use a free to air card from Sky periodically. The one possible stopper for this is that, as I live in France, I need to be sure that I can receive the Freeview channels via the satellite dish without having to re-align it. Can anyone confirm or deny that for me, please?
To share photos and music on the PC I need some way to connect it to the TV. Again, looking on the web I discovered that Samsung sell a wireless dongle but the reviews for it werent good and most recommended a wired connection. Its possible I may be able to do this in the future, but wondered if anyone on this forum had any experience or advice to offer.
A relative has this capability but he has a wired network installed in his home and uses 2 digital TV cards in his PC and uses Windows media Centre to stream photos and TV recordings through an X-Box360 as a streamer to the TV. Hes very pleased with his system but I think it might be a bit over-engineered for me - I dont want to add TV cards to the PC or buy an Xbox360 and would be content to record TV programmes to the Humax or maybe another device.
Finally, although a surround sound system is a future possibility I plan to connect the TV to my existing Denon stereo system using the red/white cable pairs (not sure what theyre called). For the other connections, until/if I get a Humax receiver Ill use the SCART connectors as at present.
Any advice on any of the above would be very welcome, and thanking you in advance.
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