Mike Durden recently did something very brave. He tried to replace his TV set.
Fifteen years ago, it was easy. Mr. Durden simply walked into a department store and picked out the biggest set he could afford -- a 25-inch model for $700. But this time, he felt he was navigating in a foreign land. Should he buy a big screen? Or a flat screen? Or go digital? There were high-definition TVs that cost as much as a car, and movie-theater-style TVs that cost as much as a house. For help, he had to consult neighbors, strangers on the Internet and nearly a dozen stores. "I knew what I wanted to do," says Mr. Durden, a print-shop owner in Alpharetta, Ga. "It was learning how to do it and sorting out what to get that was difficult."Today, visiting a consumer-electronics store can be downright scary. You won't recognize a thing: The camcorders are half the size they were a few years ago, the VCRs half the price, and the stereos come with five speakers instead of two. There are all the different formats, inputs and tape sizes, and all the intimidating acronyms. (Just what is a DVD with Divx?) You wind up feeling, at best, confused; at worst, stupid.
But here's what you need to know: This isn't your fault. Over the past year, gizmos have been upgraded or changed faster than salespeople have been trained to explain them. In visits to 10 electronics stores in Dallas and Houston, for example, only one sales representative could accurately describe the difference between digital TV and high-definition TV. (In a nutshell: All TVs, including high-definition ones, will be digital in the future. The picture is just clearer on high-definition sets.)
With this in mind, Weekend Journal set out to demystify the process. We put together a cheat sheet: a primer on a some of the basics of new consumer electronics gadgets. We also tried out new products to give you an idea of what's available and worth checking out -- and what you can ignore. To help translate, we sought the Ernestina Gomez, owner of a custom electronics-design business in Houston, and Russ Herschelmann, a home-theater designer based in Napa, Calif.
You'll need the help. "It's very confusing," says Christopher Bowley, a Dallas attorney, as he walks through a mammoth Best Buy store, notebook in hand. "There's so much to keep track of." This is his second trip to the store, in search of a new sound system. "The first time I came out, I just spun my wheels."
Not knowing enough can be costly. Earlier this year, Mr. Bowley bought a $400 digital videodisk player for watching movies. Little did he know that it used older technology that can't transfer all the picture information that newer, improved TVs can handle. Mr. Bowley thinks he'll probably end up having to buy another new video player.
With all the new choices -- and the rapidly dropping prices on older models -- it's hard to ever feel confident that you bought the best model at the best time. On a recent shopping trip, Don Halverson, an aircraft technician in Douglasville, Ga., and his wife decided to buy a $2,000 Toshiba big-screen TV. But the model wasn't in stock, giving the couple more time to shop around. Big mistake. It took them two and a half months to finally decide on a 53-inch rear-projection Sony set. "It's overwhelming," Mr. Halverson says. "I probably put as much research into this thing as I would buying a car."
So that you won't have to do the dirty work, we've done it ourselves. Here is the lowdown on what's new, what's worth buying, and what, at all costs, to leave at the store.
TVs -- Once, there was the Homer Simpson Rule: No matter what else happened, you didn't have to use your brain where TV was involved. Now even that has changed. First thing you should know is that by 2006, all TV shows are going to be broadcast digitally, which means that you'll likely need to buy a new television designed to pick up the new signals by then. Digital broadcasting allows for better-looking pictures. You might be able to see all the little medical supplies in the background on "ER," for instance, or more pancake makeup on your local anchorman. Since only a few shows are now being sent this way, however, digital televisions are just now coming on the market.
Should you buy one? Not yet. They're expensive -- starting at about $7,000 -- and there's little to watch. Wait at least until late next year, when more models will be out, prices will begin to fall and more programs will be broadcast digitally.
If you must have a TV right this second, stick with a regular tube television, at 36 inches or less. They're inexpensive, and give off the brightest picture of any kind of screen. If size matters, go with a "big screen" TV -- basically a projector inside a box. It's 4 to 8 feet wide and costs a steeper $1,000 to $5,000.
Unless you've got the stomach for the cutting edge, you'll probably want to avoid the pricest options. They include front-projection TVs, which are similar to movie-theater projectors and cost a hefty $10,000 to $100,000 but require adjustments by a professional technician every few months. Even newer are plasma displays, which have flat screens like those on a lap-top computer and cost about $10,000 but still have lots of bugs to be worked out.
State of the Art: In front-projector systems, Runco International's $48,000 Super DTV-1000 projector can throw an image as big as a 435-inch screen. But to get it to receive digital signals, you'll have to shell out another $800 to $3,000 for a "settop" box. In big-screen TVs, videophiles are raving about the color quality of Marantz America's 54-inch and 60-inch sets, priced at $3,800 and $4,500. In tube TVs, check out Sony's nondigital $1,900 KV-32XBR200, a 32-inch stereo model with a perfectly flat tube.
Sensible Value: Sharp 32L-S400 color TV, $600. This 32-inch stereo model has picture-in-picture (so you can watch two things at the same time) and gets high marks for picture quality.
Cheaper Choice: Samsung TXG2045, $180. This 20-inch stereo TV has basic audio-video inputs on the front of the TV, making it easy to hook up a camcorder.
Be Careful: If you're going to use your TV to watch videos, make sure you get the right inputs to connect VCRs, camcorders or other gadgets. This can be tricky, since most inputs are on the back of the set. What to look for: an "S-video" input. Don't ask. All you really need to know is that it creates a better picture when using your TV with a VCR or a camcorder. On sets that cost more than $1,000, look for something called a "component input," which will make the picture even clearer if you hook it up to the VCR's more advanced competitor, the DVD player.
Bottom Line: You'll save money by buying a relatively cheap tube TV now, then trading it in for a digital set several years from now when the price comes down.
Camcorders -- Here's a category where it really paid to wait. Bare-bones camcorders now cost around $350, or about half what they were five years ago. And they have many more features.
Today, entry-level models zoom closer than advanced camcorders did just a few years ago. A feature that reduces the camera shake of hand-held shots is now standard in models priced $400 and up. With models that start around $700, two- or three-inch screens flip out from the side for a larger view of what's being recorded.
A camcorder's design is dictated by the kind of tape it uses. The smallest, most expensive camcorders, which cost up to $5,000 and weigh as little as a pound, record digitally on ultra-small tapes. Picture and sound quality are twice as good as those of other camcorders. To watch these tapes on your television, you plug the camcorder into your set and hit "play." (No, the TV doesn't have to be digital, too; your old-fashioned set will work just fine.)
Slightly larger are camcorders that use 8-mm tape and a variation called "Super-8" or "Hi-8," which shoot with nearly the clarity of digital. These usually weigh two to three pounds, and cost about $800 to $1,200. You play these tapes from the camcorder, too.
VHS tapes, the kind used in most videotape recorders, once required a bulky, heavy camcorder. But now there's VHS-compact, or VHS-C, tape. Their development resulted in camcorders that fit in the palm of the hand and weigh just two pounds or so. These tapes aren't as high-quality as the others, but they are convenient: VHS-C tapes slip into a cartridge, an accessory that costs just a few dollars, and can be played in a normal videotape recorder.
State of the Art: Sharp's VL-PD1U DV digital camcorder, $3,000. Though videophiles favor the picture quality of comparable Sony and Canon models, this new model from Sharp is far more portable at just 1.4 pounds, about two pounds less than the others. Its 4-inch flip-out viewing screen has touch controls on the screen, kind of like an automatic-teller machine.
Sensible Value: Canon's ES7000, $800. This uses Hi-8 videotapes -- which offer better quality than the video tapes you're used to, though you have to plug the camcorder into the TV to play them -- and is one of the lowest-priced camcorders to provide a high-quality picture to TVs and VCRs. In addition, it has a 3.5-inch flip-out screen and its control buttons are big and easy to understand. For international travelers, this model has a switch that allows it to play tapes on some Asian and European TVs.
Cheaper Choice: Panasonic PV-D308, $450. This uses VHS-C tapes -- the kind you slip into a cartridge to view on your regular old VCR -- and has an image stabilizer to ward off camera shake, a nice zoom range, pan buttons, and a color viewfinder. It doesn't have S-video (which gives the best pictures) or a tilt-out viewing screen.
Be Careful: Models equipped just with a screen and no viewfinder can be difficult to use outdoors where sunlight overpowers the screen. And watch out that you don't get dazzled by nifty features you probably won't use, like recording in sepia-tone.
1Bottom Line: Unless you're a wannabe independent filmmaker, you don't need to pay extra for digital camcorders yet. Wait until they get cheaper. In other models, go for the feature that reduces shake when you hold the camera -- otherwise, no one will want to watch your home movies for fear of getting seasick.
VCRs and DVDs -- For a person who hasn't been to an electronics store in a long time, seeing a $69 VCR is a shock. But they aren't really a bargain. These machines are usually low-quality, equipped with just one recording head and one playback head, so they operate at only one speed. It's smarter to pay $100 to $200 more for a name-brand, four-head model with hi-fi sound that plays at two speeds -- the kind that most people have in their homes right now.
But people who really, deeply care about picture quality don't like VCRs much. That's because VCRs show programs at only about half the clarity that a normal TV does (videos put about 250 lines of information on the screen, roughly half of what your current TV does). Two years ago, a new product called the digital video disk, or DVD, entered the market. It shows videos with all the clarity today's TV can handle. In addition, it can play all your music compact disks, too.
More than 2,000 movies are now available on digital video disks, which look exactly like music CDs. DVD movies cost $20 to $30, slightly more than videotapes. This is the route you take for movies you plan to watch over and over again.
If you don't want to invest that much per film, an alternative way to watch DVD movies has recently arrived, but it requires a specially equipped, more-expensive kind of DVD player called -- get your jargon-protector ready -- a Divx DVD.
Here's how these things work: Divx disks cost just $4.50 each. So, you buy "Men in Black" and watch it once. However, if your kids want to watch it again, each repeat play of a Divx disk costs another dollar or two; the maximum you can spend is about $20. How are you charged for the additional viewings? The player keeps track of your usage and, through a modem hooked up to a phone line, calls a billing computer run by Digital Video Express Inc., parent of the Divx concept, once a month to record the charges onto your credit card.
Even though these things are smart enough to keep track of all that, they can't record things yet. So if you want to tape a football game, or a favorite soap, you still have to use an old-fashioned VCR.
State of the Art: Philips 855AT DVD player, $600. This new system comes with several advances in the technical way that video and audio signals move out of it. Sold through specialty dealers, it has component outputs to send more precise pictures to a TV, and a two-year warranty.
Sensible Value: Panasonic PV-S7670 VCR, $380. This is a standard hi-fi VCR with good picture quality and all the right features, including S-video inputs and outputs for the best picture.
Cheaper Choice: Toshiba M674, $180. Straightforward, hi-fi stereo VCR with VCR+, a feature to set recording times based on codes specified in TV program guides. It's got audio-video inputs on the front, also for connecting a camcorder, but it lacks S-video outputs.
Be Careful: Connections again. If you're going to be getting an expensive model, look for VCRs with S-video outputs and DVD players with component outputs. (Your current TV might not have these inputs, but future models will, so protect yourself from owning obsolete video players by getting the right connection now.)
Bottom Line: Unless you're a real movie buff, or just really bugged by the quality of "Gone With the Wind" on your VCR, you don't need a DVD just yet. Once again: The price is bound to drop a few years down the road.
Home Audio -- A few years back, when no one was watching, the home stereo and TV eloped. A receiver that once controlled tapes, records, the CD player and the radio, now can also control sound from the TV, VCR, DVD player and camcorder. There are other changes, too. In the past, a typical receiver fed just two speakers. Today, a receiver often contains a processor chip and distributes "surround" sound to five speakers, as well as to an added separate component called a sub-woofer (that's right, a sub-woofer) that handles the bass sound. The advantage is this: If you're sitting in the right spot, you get the sensation of being enveloped in a bubble of sound.
If you decide to upgrade this way, you'll almost certainly be getting a Dolby receiver. Make sure you get the "Dolby Digital" technology, which is becoming the industry standard for separating sounds among five speakers. Stores may try to sell you an earlier technology, called Dolby Pro Logic, sometimes labeled "Dolby Digital Ready." Skip it. Some Dolby Digital receivers also use a surround technology called DTS, a rival approach for sound separation. They can be worth the extra price of $50 or $100 because some video-disk movies use DTS for their sound.
Other tips: You get better sound by using identical speakers throughout a room instead of mixing different shapes and sizes. In a five-speaker system, one speaker sits on each side of TV viewers, not behind them. The other three go in front. You don't need a huge place; these speakers can be as small as 4-inch cubes and still put out good sound.
State of the Art: How valuable is good sound? It's all in the ears of the beholder. It's possible, for instance, to spend $85,000 on a Mark Levinson system that merely plays a CD (incredibly, by the way) through two speakers. Cello, Meridian and B&W are also great names in the high-dollar stratosphere of audio.
McIntosh Laboratories Inc. of Binghamton, N.Y., sells processors, amplifiers and speakers (right), priced in the $3,500 to $10,000 range, that are great-sounding and have a retro, geeky trait: big, lighted meters and metal knobs.
Sensible Value: You might try Audio Products International's $800 Energy Take5, which has five matched speakers and a 100-watt powered sub-woofer for bass sound. But it requires a separate receiver. Yamaha's $650 R-V1103 will fit the bill.
Cheaper Choice: Aiwa XR-M75, $380. This nicely styled radio and CD system fits on a shelf in the office or kitchen. Its 16 watts of speaker sound is sufficient for a small room. It's also got cool controls that slide out like a drawer.
Be Careful: Highly engineered home theaters in stores aren't like your family room, which lack soundproof doors and special wall fittings to absorb noise. You can buy good equipment and have it sound awful at home. Make sure you're very clear about a store's return policies.
Bottom Line: For music, you don't need surround sound. To enjoy it, you have to be sitting in one spot -- something you don't tend to do while listening to tunes. Music is recorded in stereo, so two speakers are sufficient. For movies, you do sit still, and surround sound can bring Bruce Willis crashing into your living room. The merit of that is another question.