What forums do you use?? (1 Viewer)

[shankar]

I cruise the Internet and have visited most of the HT forums asking questions. My experience has been thus:

Home theater forum: Best forum for audio related questions. OK for video stuff. Friendliest of the forums.

Digital Theater: Used to be he place to get answers, I don't visit there that often.

AVS Forum: Best source for HDTV related info and questions. I learned a lot. Some highly opinionated people tend to blow away newbies.

HT spot: Good source for Toshiba related stuff, mainly due to the organization. Learned a lot about tweaking my Tosh TV.

How about you folks?

 

[James Bergeron]

Althought I like Home Theater Forum (I agree great place for audio).

I think Home Theater Talk is the most friendly forum.

There are not nearly as many users there so you can get a vast more amount of opinions here on hardware. They deal more in intelectual talk.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

They deal more in intelectual talk.

So, over there- they would spell it intellectual?
My thoughts are:
Here: Obviously. Very good a general levels on all topics.
Strengths: Very good for info on DVD software and actual movie related discussions-- very helpful people in DIY willing to go step by step.
Weaknesses: It's not all that technical, mostly RPTV/Receiver crowd.
Avsforum.com: Super technical and very advanced!
Strengths: Electrical Engineers and super-tweakers everywhere- info on how to replace the 1222-390-OP chip on your cat to get it's fur to shine a little brighter! Strong sections on HTPC and Front-projection, as well as HDTV and video processors.
Weaknesses: Big learning curve, lots of tech stuff over the head of many, some areas move way too fast. Also, it's connected to a business- so there are some additional elements that go into the interests on that.
Hometheatertalk.com: Rather relaxed and often esoteric. Kind of where the hardcore of the HTF have gone to further discuss the intricacies of various electronics and artforms.
Strengths: Knapp always keeps things interesting, pretty knowledgeable membership, soft spot for discussions with open ended answers.
Weaknesses: IS currently kinda small, so takes a while to get answers. Sometimes it seems a bit "deja vu" for my tastes, as core concepts repeatedly discussed at great lengths by the same core people.
DVDTalk.com: Another software intensive forum, dedicated mostly to movie and dvd talk over hardware and equipment.
Strengths: Great traders section, and excellent bargains section. These guys are always the first with deals, and know exactly the steps to get bang for the buck on DVD.
Weaknesses: Sometimes seems a bit hostile, loose rules means some opportunity for cutting edge discussions, but also sometimes leads to flame wars. Magic often happens in chaos- but those familiar with newsgroups know that sometimes while there are diamonds- you have to dig to find them.
My request to anyone taking part here is not to badmouth any of the other sites- there is certainly room for all the various forums and their specialties. Just be careful as often discussion of this turns into a laundry what we dislike about other forums-- and endless bashes.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Digitaltheater.com Strengths: Good technical advice available. Used to be a pretty good forum, but for some reason the traffic has come to a virtual stand-still, to the point that some of their luminaries (like brucek) have migrated over here. Good for us, bad for them!
Weaknesses: As noted, effectively DOA. It may take a while to get a response, if help is what you are after.
Hometheaterspot.com Strengths: None that I can think of.
Weaknesses: Finely hashed into more than 80 topical sub-forums (no kidding), which makes it a pain to navigate. For instance, there is a forum for every major equipment brand, so I imagine anyone someone posting a “newbie help” question under their brand would get far less responses than he would in a “Beginners Forum” like we have here. Seems to be very few really technically knowledgeable people there. Too many participants seem akin to the less-than-gracious, barely-literate types that haunt most of the car audio forums. Responding to some fellow’s “Help!” thread will often get you zip in feedback – no “Thanks,” no “Drop dead,” no nothing.
Soundandvisionmag.com the website for Sound and Vision magazine, also has a forum (direct link at http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/cgi-bin/Ultimatebb.cgi). Strengths: There is sanity to the number of sub-forums. Friendlier, more literate and generally a higher-caliber clientele than the Spot. Reasonably competent answers to “help” questions.
Weaknesses: Doesn’t really sound out from the crowd. There are more (in number) knowledgeable people here and elsewhere.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[shankar]

Weaknesses: Finely hashed into more than 80 topical sub-forums (no kidding), which makes it a pain to navigate.

AS I mentioned in my original post, I rather think that it is a strength in that you get focused responses from users who actually own that brand.

If not, you'll end up with users owing a MITSU offering "expert" advice on a TOSH TV even if they don't own one. May be good for general questions, but not for brand specific queries, such as How do I disable SVM on my Tosh TV??

 

[Zbigniew]

For any questions about Lexicon:
http://www.smr-forums.com/
with Lexi employees answering.
_zjt

 

[Mike Matheson]

Two other forums I frequent:
Audiogon Forums -- tends to be for higher-end gear, tubes, tweaks, etc.
Audio Asylum -- sort of a Wild West kind of experience, but a lot of info (speakers, digital sources and DACs, etc.)

 

[Allan Jayne]

Disadvantage of forums with dozens and dozens of categories:
People who may be able to answer your question can't find your question as easily, so it takes longer to get an answer.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Jack Keck]

I enjoy this forum, Home Theater Talk, and AVS. I also visit SMR and Harmonic Discord. HD is a great place for any kind of esoterica, especially discussions about tube equipment. I am pretty much low end, but I enjoy reading people's ideas and opinions about the higher end stuff.

 

[dave_brogli]

I use this place probally the most, followed by SAV forums. Also there is a new place opened its called HDTVoice. Its primarily HD related and there are only about 500 members so its still new but there is some good stuff on there... http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/index.php