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Comment on Bargain Pioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver – 7.1 Channel 3d Great Saving by Charlie

Charlie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:23:47 +0000

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

VSX-53 very capable and, August 26, 2011

This review is from: Pioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver - 7.1 Channel 3d (Electronics)

I ended up purchasing this unit from a local Best Buy store. Reason is that Pioneer Elite electronics are only warranted if you buy them through a brick and mortar store. For me it wasn't worth it to buy it online and have a problem only to find out Pioneer would not honor the warranty.

I am still getting used to the features but so far i am very pleased. The iPod/iPad/iPhone connectivity is very good with the included cable to front inputs. You then use the Pioneer remote to navigate and control the Apple device. Alternatively you can make a Bluetooth connection (optional Pioneer AS-BT-200 bluetooth avaiable at Amazon is necessary) and use the device to wirelessly to play music.

[[ASIN:B004NNULYU Pioneer AS-BT200 Bluetooth Adapter for Compatible Pioneer Products, Black]

The upcoming Airtunes from Apple may make this device unnecessary if you have a compatible device.

Videos on an iPod when projected onto a 120" screen through the unit are quite grainy. Conversely a DVD or Blu Ray DVD look very good. This is more an issue with the compression and resolution of the iPod and not with the receiver since it is really just passing it through.

The input electrical plug into the back is not as snug as I would have anticipated since it is not a grounded three prong type.

S-Video is gone. Phonograph inputs are gone.

There still is one back RCA A/V connection for a recordable component such as a DVR or even a cassette player/recorder.

Plenty of HDMI inputs. Unfortunately as I discovered when trying to connect an older Viewsonic projector without HDMI you cannot input a device into the HDMI and go out through the video. The receiver cannot down grade the signal. HDMI in = HDMI out. I tried a Comcast HD box HDMI in and video out without success. I had to make component video inputs directly into the projector and took the sound portion only into the receiver.

My sound system is basic for now but the VSX-53 can support 7.1 surround plus multi-zone capabilities. I am hoping to make a home theater someday and use the VSX-53 as the backbone to power this.

If you love your old equipment like a turntable and S-video components this will not work well for you. That's the problem with old electronics, you can't just upgrade one arm of the system and not the others and expect them all to work together. There are several standard RCA Audio L/R and video to work with older components if you need them.

An RJ45 jack lets you link to a home network if you have one. I believe Pioneer sells a wireless adapter separately also if you do not have hard wired network with CAT-5 cables. I hope to get all my home music on various computers to go into this. We'll see.

The VSX-53 is a heavy and tall receiver and it need some space in a shelf system. It is not a low profile by any means.
Two big dials are on the front, one to change inputs manually and the other for volume. They have a nice smooth feel to them.
A flip down door exposes more control buttons the USB interface and video input for the iPod, and an HDMI input.

Front RCA style jacks for audio L/R are not present any longer so you can't just connect an older component easily any longer. I think this should have been included and is a deficiency. If you need this capability you will have to run short connector leads from a back input with female connecters and bring them around the side towards the front.

I looked at Yamaha and Denon, either of which would have been good choices also. I wanted the iPod built in connections that seemed to be add on costs with the other systems. Since all the kids have iPods it makes it easier for them to enjoy music through the system.

The unit is similar to the VSX-52. I believe it adds and extra HDMI input or 2. There may be some internal upgrades as well. The VSX-53 is about $200 more than the VSX-52.

Audio is very crisp and stereo music sounds superb. Can't wait to take advantage of the surround capabilities.

Tonight I played around with an iPad using the Bluetooth connection through the adapter. Wow, what fun! Any app you have for music like Pandora streams very well into the receiver with great stereo sound. Plus you control the sound level from the iPad. You are really controlling the iPad volume and not altering the receiver volume. I have the Sirius app and you get access to all the music just like on your computer plus with the convenience of being in a chair or sofa and scroll through the stations or music to pick what you like. Haven't tried this with a laptop music system but if it has Bluetooth I don't see why it wouldn't work. I see great potential here. Get a wall mount for an iPad close to the receiver. Then when you want music take... Read more

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Comment on Bargain Pioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver – 7.1 Channel 3d Great Saving by Temo Villanueva

Temo Villanueva — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:43:09 +0000

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

Fantastic sounding amazing iOS controllable AVR, October 1, 2011

Temo Villanueva (San Diego, CA United States) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Pioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver - 7.1 Channel 3d (Electronics)

If you are looking for awesome sound that can be remote controlled via your iPhone (iOS iPod, iPad, etc) this is simply the best for the money out there right now! You get it all, 7 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI ouputs up to 3 Zones (Living Room, Bedroom, Bathroom, etc) ALL controllable by the best receiver iOS app on the market right now... This is a great price for a very high end AVR. Add some good speakers to this system and you really can't go wrong... looking forward to many hours of AV enjoyment all over the house. The unit shipped in 48hrs at a price you just can't find locally thanks to this seller and Amazon. Great experience, thanks -tvrPioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver - 7.1 Channel 3d

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Comment on Bargain Pioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver – 7.1 Channel 3d Great Saving by flakewinslow

flakewinslow — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:37:26 +0000

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

The best receiver I have ever owned., November 10, 2011

flakewinslow -

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This review is from: Pioneer Elite Vsx-53 Av Network Receiver - 7.1 Channel 3d (Electronics)

I upgraded to this receiver from a Sony home theater system that was a couple years old. I loved my Sony system but this one sets a new standard. It was incredibly easy to set up and it sounds amazing even on my old Sony surround sound satellites and two KEF floor standing speakers. The 7.1 surround was very nice while watching Cars 2 and Captain America. Plenty of inputs and outputs will ensure this thing will last for years without having to upgrade. If you are looking at this review then do yourself a favor and buy this receiver, you will not be disappointed.

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Comment on Bargain Bose® Lifestyle® T20 home theater system–Black Shop Online by Chopperacn

Chopperacn — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:05:51 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Awesome home theater !, August 7, 2011

Chopperacn (Princeton, NJ) -

This review is from: Bose® Lifestyle® T20 home theater system--Black (Electronics)

This is a monster system with little speakers.
I looked at most of the HTIB systems and none could match the sound clarity of Bose.
Down side is you pay a premium price.

Set up is easy.Even the box is neatly organized for easy installation.I was able to install in under 30 mins.
It took more time to run the wires under the carpet.

The on screen guided set up is a breeze.It will guide you step by step to connect various systems.I hooked up my PS3, Wii, Fios Cable box, DVD player.

Even the normal talk based shows on CNN sounded so awesome.

Inspite of the high price, I would recommend this system.It's a sound investment !!

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Comment on Bargain Bose® Lifestyle® T20 home theater system–Black Shop Online by Owen

Owen — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:39:18 +0000

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

Nearly flawless system, but c'mon, Bose!, January 18, 2011

Owen (ME, USA) -

This review is from: Bose® Lifestyle® T20 home theater system--Black (Electronics)

The system is all you'd expect from Bose, so I won't repeat all the accolades here. The elegant on-screen interface is terrific as it recognizes every media form out there from Wii to AppleTv, Blu-Ray to VCR. BUT it does not recognize . . . an iPod? In order to listen to your iPod through the system, you're required to open the front panel of the Bose control console and plug in red/white RCA jacks from your iPod in order to "fool" the system in to playing your music. Even a Bose iPod dock that plugs right in to a mere Wave Radio won't work here. No, if you want a Bose Home Theater system that recognizes your MP3 player, you'll just have to cough up an extra $500 to $1200 for a V25 or V35 system. It is a bit frustrating to plug in your AppleTV and have the system read "AppleTV" only to then plug in your (esoteric, I guess) iPod and your $2000 sound system doesn't respond. Ugh.

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Comment on Bargain Bose® Lifestyle® T20 home theater system–Black Shop Online by Fitzroy

Fitzroy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:33:38 +0000

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

Awesome Audio, December 31, 2010

Fitzroy -

This review is from: Bose® Lifestyle® T20 home theater system--Black (Electronics)

I can't say enough good things about this product, awesome is not even close enough! Please be prepared to dedicate some time and patience in setting up this system, once it's done right you will be satisfied for as long as you own the system. The remote controller can also be programmed to control most of you other electronic devices in the same room, and so limiting the amount of controllers you have sitting on your table. I must take this opportunity to compliment Bose for manufacturing such amazing products, hat's off, would highly reccommend buying this product!!!!!

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Comment on Cheap Samsung UN55D6000 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV (Black) good deal by Product Reviewer

Product Reviewer — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:57:01 +0000

105 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

Outstanding Picture Clarity and Color, March 22, 2011

Product Reviewer -

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This review is from: Samsung UN46D6000 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV (Black) (Electronics)

The Samsung UN46D6000 is an excellent led HDTV set that is the best value priced alternative to a 3D model. In fact, the outstanding picture clarity and color of this LED set almost seems 3D at times and these are its most striking features. Other pluses are the light weight, thin profile and elegant overall design along with low power usage. Although, I would suggest that individual sound control features for bass, treble and balance would be a definite improvement.

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Comment on Cheap Samsung UN55D6000 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV (Black) good deal by Kyler Christensen

Kyler Christensen — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:27:25 +0000

131 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Quality, Extremely Functional, and Amazing Stylish HDTV, June 22, 2011

Kyler Christensen (Kent, WA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Samsung UN40D6000 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV (Black) (Electronics)

Whoah, I really did my research on this one (I always do when I make huge investments into things that I plan on owning for a long time) and I am not disappointed!!! For those that don't know, LED TVs are arguably considered the best class of HDTVs (including LCD and plasma along with all of their variants) and this particular model I feel is really the best in its class (considering all things: quality of picture, pricing, features, and, in my humble opinion, size - I really didn't need anything larger than about 40-something inches for my purposes).

I'm going to go on a small side note: Some will argue that plasma has the best picture. However, LEDs have better picture at identical resolutions. I checked this model out on the floor at Best Buy along with two other (42") TVs that I was comparing, an LG LCD and a Panasonic plasma. The sales associate swore by plasma and couldn't even tell the obvious difference in contrast between the 42" and this model (the LED one was obviously better). I'm not going to patronize you on the pros and cons of each class of TV (although I could) but, all things considered, LED really is the best overall. Do your homework if you haven't.

Anyways, I noticed that some people whined about: 1) the sound, 2) the remote, 3) screen glare, 4) light leakage, or 5) whatever dud/lemon of a TV they got. I'm going to address these points with rebuttals in the following bullet points:

-1) In truth the sound is very decent (you're buying a stand-alone HDTV, what did you expect?) and most people may want to purchase a sound bar/system down the road. Plus there are multiple sound options that enhance and isolate individual parts of the sound that matter to you ("Clear Voice" is a good one sometimes).

-2) Hey, it's a REMOTE! Come on, people! Seriously though, the remote is intuitive enough and has some cool features (the menus are very simple and a joy to navigate once you get the hang of everything), like button back-lighting that you can toggle on and off with one glow-in-the-dark button. Plus the buttons have a good feel and good travel to them.

-3) Unless you keep the windows open and they're facing the TV, this is not really a huge issue at all - especially when the TV is actually ON!

-4) Here's where I think that I will acknowledge some peoples' pouting and concern; on the upper and lower right and left corner portions of the screen, and even upper-center (where the light is sourced from), I did notice some faint circular light leakage/blooming spots when watching a movie at night. It is minor but they are there. However, this is only noticed when the following conditions are met: you're watching in a super widescreen letterbox-format picture, it's night-time or the house lights are off, and the movie scene is a really dark one. I'm not certain if this is normal of LEDs or not. Either way, it is very minor, can easily be ignored, and is definitely not worth taking my TV back for. I'm already too happy with it as you might guess.

-5) Mine arrived in perfect condition. I recommend a free trial of Amazon Prime. You can get this TV with free standard shipping rates or $4 for overnight shipping in the continental US.

-One last initial worry of mine that I wanted to insert into this review is concerning the bezel/frame style. the outer edge is surrounded with an additional clear edge that contains an even smaller and extremely subtle clear red edge. Aesthetics are an important thing for me so looking at this model in the store was a MUST. However, the red edge along with the clear edge was virtually unnoticeable in the store. When you do look closely and see it you will notice how stylish it all really is. The frame is ultra thin, black gloss, and sits on a mostly-glass base. the shaft of the base mount is clear glass so the TV kind of seems like it's floating. I think that that was what the designers were going for.

Now on to some of the features that previous reviewers didn't touch on... This TV has really got you covered. There are a multitude of sound and video options in a very intuitive menu interface. I haven't utilized any of the Internet-accessing options yet. My main plan was to hook my laptop up to the HDMI port and do a lot with that. But here is where the TV really shines for me: the HDD USB port. If you have a USB flash drive/external hard drive then you can view photos, play music, and even watch movies straight off of it. Playing movies has no slow-down whatsoever. If you somehow acquire Blu-ray disc movie rips or whatever video file type/extension you have, chances are great that it will play them all with no problem. The TV has played almost every movie file type that I've thrown at it. I love the streamlined menu within the videos. You can't ask for anything better in this aspect. And HD videos all look glorious.

Lastly, some people complain... Read more

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Comment on Cheap Samsung UN55D6000 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV (Black) good deal by K. Singhasiri

K. Singhasiri — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:29:46 +0000

248 of 261 people found the following review helpful:

Auto Motion Plus - the price disparity, May 18, 2011

K. Singhasiri (USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Samsung UN32D6000 32-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV (Black) (Electronics)

After owning this TV for exactly a month I've finally decided to write a review, you know, after the excitement wears off and what not. Actually I'm still pretty excited about it. My previous set was also a Samsung 26" LCD and upgrading to this one was worthwhile.

Since this is a television, I'll comment about the picture first. Out of the box it's very good, after adjusting the settings a bit - excellent. The colors are very vibrant and no problems with viewing angles. I actually like my images to have a bit of contrast to them; I prefer black to be black and not grey. At first I was having a hard time trying to get it right, since my initial reaction was to reduce backlight and gamma, but crank up contrast and brightness. After a while, I finally figured out 'brightness' had the biggest effect. Around 30% was where it really kicks in, but it didn't occur to me to drop it that low. It's all about preference though, and this TV should have enough settings for anybody. Aside from contrast though, I don't see an insane amount of difference between this and a non-LED set... Something I must mention about the settings though, depending on which of the 4 picture presets you're on, certain selections like advanced video settings become unselectable for reasons unknown. Though I pretty much left that setting untouched. Despite that, I really like the fact that settings are saved independently across the 4 presets for EACH input source. So, for example, if you have 4 connections coming in, you can have a total of 16 presets - good stuff. I also tried the PC input through vga and found the picture to be very sharp. Colors are accurate though a bit strong and text is easily readable from a few feet out and this is coming from a practically blind gamer. The audio, I found to be pretty good. The bass isn't going to blow your neighbors away, and it's not going to replace any home theater system, but there is a very capable, customizable equalizer on board which should help a bit. Loudness for this set wasn't a problem for me.

Now I must talk about the 120Hz Auto Motion Plus(AMP) dealy as it seems to be the main feature that drives up the cost from lower models. What AMP does for you is, well, readable in the product description, so I'll describe it. AMP made every thing move faster while maintaining picture detail. (more frames in the same amount of time = faster) So, to me, everything looked like either home movies or daytime soaps which, if you can picture them, tend to move faster than most television programs and movies. Despite the bit about daytime soaps, I generally watch movies and sports, and after a few dozen years of watching them in ~24 frames per second (a bit higher for sports), I found the added (double?) frames to seem unnatural. After a few days found myself turning the feature off completely even for sports. Though there's nothing wrong with the quality of the image presented per se, I'd just prefer to see a blue flash go by as opposed to Ironman's actual chest piece go by, for example. And it only really kicks in at what seems like certain intervals, so the inconsistency in framerate got to me as well. I did find a use for AMP while gaming. Everything moves at what seems like 60 fps even when the game is not natively known to. Though, again, it's not 100 percent consistent in high frames (more like 60-80) and certain, very fast moving, games, like racing, cause what seems like screen tearing at the edges. You probably won't notice it (AMP) on games that already run at 60fps, and also it won't work miracles for games with already poor and inconsistent framerates. Overall, it looks fantastic for games, as I didn't give it a second thought about leaving it on, but for everything else I finally decided not to.

The main selling point for me was the Connectshare. I was thinking of purchasing a digital media player a while back, but here it's already built-in and it's a very capable one indeed. Though, there's too many to list here, the TV's e-manual actually lists suppurt for a dozen file types spanning several dozen video and audio codecs with bitrates as high as 30 Mbps for certain file types. It's played pretty much every thing I've thrown at it and handled any 'usb device' I've used so far, which includes NTFS formatted sata hard drives with external enclosure, no worries. Though once in a while the audio cuts in and out on my .vob straight rips, and I've yet to test files with very high bitrates since I feel the tradeoff for file size isn't worth it past 7-8 Mbps. Something I must mention about the media player is it does an admirable job of reducing video artifacting from down-conversion, however you're not able to zoom past the actual video while maintaining aspect ratio. In other words it won't crop the black horizontal bars for you on a 4:3 ratio video. You have to do it in the conversion. I found it strange since the option to zoom in is there for all the... Read more

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Comment on Cheap Panasonic VIERA TC-P55GT30 55-Inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV online by E. J. Paul "EJ"

E. J. Paul "EJ" — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:19:56 +0000

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

Fluctuating brightness no longer a problem; great for games, August 22, 2011

E. J. Paul "EJ" (Santa Barbara, CA) -

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This review is from: Panasonic VIERA TC-P50GT30 50-Inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

Admittedly, I was hesitant to purchase this TV because of the mixed reviews. Many people here (and on various forums and review sites) complained of distracting brightness fluctuations that significantly detracted from the viewing experience. I decided to just go with it and I must say I don't regret my purchase at all.

First, yes, the brightness fluctuations were distracting. Notice the past-tense "were" there; as in, the fluctuations are no longer distracting because they are no longer a problem. For North America, Panasonic has acknowledged and addressed the fluctuations. For sets manufactured prior to August 2011 a repair is available in the form of an SD card software update or a very simple hardware replacement (pre-updated hardware for non-Panasonic repair techs as an alternative to updating the software with an SD card). So, don't let the looming shadow of brightness fluctuations deter you from this TV--if you get a set and it is a problem, call Panasonic and they'll fix it. On the other hand, you may not even notice them at all. So again, don't let it hold you back.

I discovered this TV while looking for an affordable way to pick up a quality 3D HDTV, mostly for gaming. 3D performance is very good. Many have claimed this TV is crosstalk free (crosstalk is the phenomenon where the image intended for only one eye bleeds a bit into the wrong eye causing a double-image effect), but it simply is not; however, the crosstalk is generally not very noticeable in movies and games and in the case of games you can usually adjust the strength of the 3D effect to somewhat mitigate the crosstalk. For anyone wondering if plasma tech is ok for games the answer is yes, it is fine. Some people recommend about 100 hours of "break in" before leaving any static images on the screen. I don't know if this is technically necessary but there's nothing wrong with being cautious and conservative...100 hours really isn't much time for a TV at all. Some with a critical eye may occasionally notice image retention, but it is temporary. Just be mindful about leaving static images on the screen for long periods of time (for example, don't leave a game paused for several hours...just turn off your TV if you won't be using it, you'll save electricity). Many games have health bars, maps, or other fixed images on the screen, but in my experience these don't cause long-term problems: first, the TV will imperceptibly shift pixels around to keep them changing; second, most games have cutscenes, pauses, and transitions that change up the picture frequently enough that it won't really matter. Again, just be mindful and you shouldn't have any problems.

This set replaced a Sony XBR LCD from 2008 and so far (2 months of ownership) I don't miss LCDs at all. Frankly, at this screen size LED backlit 3D capable LCDs are just too cost prohibitive in my opinion. Yes the power consumption is higher than an LED lit LCD so the long-term cost of ownership is higher in that respect, but I haven't noticed any difference in my electricity bill compared to my CCFL lit LCD; so, if you're coming from an older LCD the power consumption probably won't be a lot different.

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