Few questions from an ignoramous who just bought his first HDTV. (1 Viewer)

[Joseph DeMartino]

You don't have to, but you might find it comes in handy. My DVR lets me record two shows at once. But between new shows being added old ones being moved to new nights/times I sometimes find that there are three shows I want to watch in the same timeslot. It is nice to be able to switch over to the QAM tuner in my TV and watch one show live (albeit without surround sound) while recording the other two.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Definitely hook up the HD-DVR. This will give you all the benefits of a box - viewing scrambled channels (often the direct cable only has HD local channels unscrambled), viewing guide, DVR, etc. But you could also split off the cable (using a cheap splitter) and hook the cable directly to the TV for cases like Joseph mentioned above. It's not necessary, but it can be done.

 

[Dennis Ellis]

Thanks Jeff and Joseph.

 

[Sevb33]

I am going to wal-mart to see if I can find a decent priced HDMI cable, I don't need a long one, less than 6 feet would suffice. What numbers and such should I look for on the pkging? I wanna hook it to the DVD player (It has HDMI).

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I've purchased the Phillips brand HDMI for around $25 for 6 ft. at Wall-Mart. Hooked it up to my 1080p TV and it works. Don't worry about 1.2, 1.3a, 1.3xyz, especially at a 6ft length. Any competently made 6 ft. cable will pass HDMI 1.3b (or even 1.3xyz!) and really shouldn't cost more than $10-15. The fact that you are buying at a brick and mortar ups the price to $25. Be grateful, because it would cost you $100 at Best Buy (and still be worth only $10-15).

 

[Sevb33]

Thanks so much, I ended up not buying the HDMI yet.

Anyone give me link to reputable online dealer that has cheap, yet good HDMI cables? The cheapest one at my Wal-Mart was 28 bucks. If I can get it around 10 to 15 bucks shipped that would perfect. Like I said, I only need one 6 foot or less.

 

[Sevb33]

Is there another way to hook this up? I have an HDTV with QAM tuner getting the local channels thru comcast right from the wall, and I also have a digital cable box until I get the HD one, I also have a DVDR hooked up, is there a way I can hook them both at the same time. without using composite cables? I just bought a splitter one with one IN port and two OUT ports. I only have one place to screw the cable into the TV, and I don't wanna keep unscrewing things to switch cables around everytime I got from the local HD channels to the reg digital cable thru the box.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Two on-line sources among HTF members are Bluejeans Cable and Monoprice. Both offer excellent value on a variety of wires and cables. In any given case the price advantage may lie with one or the other, so it is a good idea to check both. I should mention that I have personally purchased from Bluejeans and been very happy dealing with them, and that they are an HTF sponsor. I haven't ordered from Monoprice myself, but I've always heard good things about them from other HTF members.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Ditto on BlueJeans and Monoprice. I especially love the owner (who is a trial attorney) of BlueJeans' scathing response to Monster Cable after they threatened him with litigation. He took them apart with a scalpel!

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/...onse041408.pdf

 

[Stephen Tu]

Just split one end to the TV, the other end to the cable box. Connect cable box to the TV using composite video. What do you have against using a composite cable?

 

[Sevb33]

Nothing, just the vibe that composite sucks from online forums, LOL.

Thanks! Sometimes you don't see the forest for the trees.

 

[Stephen Tu]

Composite sucks if you have something like a Blu-ray player or HD cable box and there are vastly better alternatives, like HDMI/component.

But for SD cable box, there usually isn't a better alternative. S-video sometimes.