New TV + Surround sound - old shite TV = HAPPINESS

[fishsandwich]

I've been using an old 27" Sony TV that only had a cable (coaxial?) input in the back. No composite cables, no S-Video, no nothing. I had to kick the TV once in a while to get it to work, too. I had my Dreamcast hooked directly to the back, with another cable going off the Dreamcast cable to the multi-box that split up all my other systems. Saturn, PSX, N64/SNES, and VCR all snaking out everywhichaway. Picture quality on everything but the Dreamcast was total ass, with snow and lines everywhere. Every time I wanted to play NES or TG-16 I had to pull my TV out and dig through a wall of wire to half-ass connect the system for more snowy gaming sessions.

This weekend I bought a 24" flat-tube (not flat screen) TV with a bunch of composite cable hook-ups in the back and one in the front, plus S-video and that special DVD colorstream mode. I would have gone bigger with the TV, but my space is limited. I also bought the cheapest "home theater" system they had, which is basically a DVD player with 6 small speakers and a subwoofer.

WHAT A DIFFERANCE

The new picture and better hook-ups make a WORLD of differance! The picture quality is so much better. The surround-sound is awesome, too... even for the $99 I paid for it. Missile whizz from my back right across the room and to my left. The composite connection in the front is the best of all... I can leave my Dreamcast in all the time (connected through the back) and plug the console of the day into the front.

This kind of set-up may be old news for a lot of you out there, but for someone like me who has been playing on a shite TV for so many years with so much video interferance, this is INCREDIBLE. Even N64 games look good! My neighbors must hate me now.

Best $430 I've spent in a long time.

Cheers

Fish Sandwich

[tholly]

well congrats on your new set up.....seeing and hearing games the way they were meant to be is a great thing....heres to many hours of gaming and enjoy....

[fahrvergnugen]

Very cool. When I first got my xbox the first thing I did was play with the 5.1 rig. I spent like an hour in Halo just walking up to sound sources and turning in a circle, listening to the audio rotate around the room.

Sound makes all the difference.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Congratulations on your new setup sounds like a wonderful piece of work.

speaking of which, what would be the best size of a Television with S-Video on the market at the moment?

The one thing that drives me nuts, is games that scroll off the screen, you can't even see your life meter or how many continues you have left, etc.

[FlufflePuff]

Congrats on the upgrade. Isn't it great when you can see stuff in your games you couldn't before? When I started gaming I played on a 13 inch, then I got a 19 inch, and currently have an RCA 27" roundtube (the only RCA tv worth owning by the way). I did want to ask what TV you got for $99. If it's an Apex, I would strongly reccommend returning it and exchanging up for the closest model. I've taken so many 24" Apex returns that I've lost count. They all seem to fail at about the 2 to 3 month point.

[EnemyZero]

Tv does make a difference, I had all my game systems cramped in a small entertainment center with a old zenith 19' mono tv, about 6 months ago I bought a 32' HD samsung flatscreen, and I hooked up my pioneer 500 watt surround sound...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm gaming will never bee the same again, nothing like hearing and playing streets of rage 2 on these babies

[fishsandwich]

Congrats on the upgrade. Isn't it great when you can see stuff in your games you couldn't before? When I started gaming I played on a 13 inch, then I got a 19 inch, and currently have an RCA 27" roundtube (the only RCA tv worth owning by the way). I did want to ask what TV you got for $99. If it's an Apex, I would strongly reccommend returning it and exchanging up for the closest model. I've taken so many 24" Apex returns that I've lost count. They all seem to fail at about the 2 to 3 month point.

Nah, the surround sound was $99... it's pretty junky, but it does have a DVD player and it does as promised. I wanted something SMALL (I live in a tiny place) with no big towers, and the smallest thing BB had just happened to be the cheapest at $99. Works for me.

The TV is a 24" Toshiba for $299. I could have gone cheaper, but a lot of the cheaper TV looked like ass and didn't have the multiple connections I wanted. I didn't want to spend much more... $300 is a Gamcube and a bunch of good used games!!!

Cheers and thanks for the warning on the TV.

DON'T BUY A 24" APEX TELEVISION! Source in the know confirms its inherent suck factor..

Fish Sandwich

[EnemyZero]

Don't by ANYTHING made by apex for that matter

[boatofcar]

I just bought a new tv too-I was looking at futons in Wal Mart while I meandered over to the electronics section in the hopes of getting a Game Boy Player. I walked out with a 27" flat screen TV. For 150 BUCKS. It was a floor model Emerson that was one of those as-is deals. Now I know what you're thinking--Emerson? But I'm telling you, this TV is awesome. It has S-Video, Component, and Audio Out in the back, and red-white-yellow connections in the front. The picture is great, which leads me to believe that the set is made by someone else and just has the Emerson stamp on it. In related news, I bought an Emerson mini boom box for my classroom last year and it is great too.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Don't by ANYTHING made by apex for that matter

And why is that? Im not fimilar with this brand

[The Brown Eye]

I have that same TV. I have never gotten as much value for the money as I did with that TV. The only thing that sucked was carrying it up the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment by myself.

[Push Upstairs]

Don't by ANYTHING made by apex for that matter

While this is true for most of thier stuff i will defend thier cheap-o DVD players (some anyway).

Why?

Because some of them can be made region free with a simple button combo on the remote.

[The_EniGma]

My sony 21 each has all the connections and its not so bad.....

Maybe u bought a sucky one

ethierway congrats

I wish i had my uncles 32 inch toshiba but its 100hz so i wouldn't be able to use timecrisis on it...

[Half Japanese]

I upgraded over the last year myself. I got a Zenith 27" HDTV that is wonderful (not only was it cheaper than the comparable Samsung, but it looked a hell of a lot better). Also, I just got an Onkyo home theater setup. it's a 'home-theater-in-a-box,' but pretty much the best one I've seen or heard out there (no built-in dvd, which in my opinion is a plus). I would normally recommend getting some better cable, but with a $99 setup, I don't know how much difference you'd be able to hear anyway.

[Nez]

God I hate apex, I have one of there dvd players, it just blows bad remote and it's almost impossible to get you DVD out when you want it. Plus when you do get the DVD drive open it tends to want to close on your fingers.

[nathanray]

apex is cheap i hate apex as well damn apex to hell

[RJ]

@boatofcar: I cant find anything about that Emerson TV you spoke of. The only one on WalMart's website is a TV/DVD/VCR combo unit. Was the actual price much more than you paid?

More info please!