[ksmith38]

Got my 60" GWII a couple days ago. Bought it from OneCall and had it in 5 days. Took advantage of their 12 month no interest no payments option and bought a new Terk triple LNB dish and a new Sony HD200 at the same time. Got the extended warranty as well. Total of the bill was less than I would have had to pay locally for just the TV...


The risk I took was not being able to return the tv "no questions asked" to a local retailer. For the savings, it was worth it to me. I figured I could do a lot of out-of-pocket repairs to the set, if it came to that, and still not have spent as much as I would have if I would have bought it locally. Now, before I get flamed for not buying it from my local CC, I am not advocating that you buy from anywhere in particular. I am merely saying that, for me, the risk of buying from the internet was SLIGHTLY less daunting to me than paying a bunch more money for the set to get the piece of mind from a 30 day return policy from a local retailer. Your mileage may vary.


I am EXTREMELY PLEASED with this TV and Sat box. I have done only MINOR picture tweaks and think the set looks GREAT. Some Sat channels look better than others but most are just fine and some are very good.

DVD is AMAZING, and High Def is pure joy to watch. Watched the NCAA Basketball finals last night using OTA High Def signal and it was wonderful. Switched back and forth between regular OTA signal and the same station, but if High Def. Wow. What a difference.


Stuck/bright pixels?? I'm sure I have some, but most importantly to me, none that I can see from viewing distance of 10 to 12 feet. I even got up to about 4 feet and didn't see anything. I refuse to ruin the picture in my mind's eye by scanning every pixel from 6 inches away if my eyes don't know they are there from 10 feet. I'd rather enjoy the "big picture", if you know what I mean. Just my $.02...


Would I do it again?? In a heartbeat. OneCall was GREAT to deal with. If you are on the fence, as I was, about spending the money for this set, don't be. Go get one. Buy it local if you want, buy it on the internet if you want. You decide what level of risk you can "afford". But I am fairly sure you will like the TV.

 

[aaron.s]

Kevin,


Glad to hear you made out well.


I've been a long time OneCall customer and finally bit the bullet and ordered my 60" GWII from OneCall - also taking advantage of the 12 month no finance/no payment option. In addition to getting a great price - not having to pay for tax AND free shipping at the time I ordered sealed the decision to purchase such a high ticket item mail order. I also got a 2 year extended warranty on it as well.


I'm in the NYC area and have had it for about a month now and couldn't be more pleased. I've taken the time to apply umr's tweaks which greatly helped the SD image from my DirecTivo unit - although I am now playing with the DRC settings to find a better balance of a sharper image with a few artifacts.


I was able to get a Samsung SIR-TS160 HD DirecTV receiver as an open box at Best Buy for $400 - and I'm pleased with it as well -- a few quirks, but this is only a temporary solution until the end of the year when the HD DirecTivo unit is available -- I'll be one of the first to pre-order it!


Unfortunatly here in NY - only CBS and a couple of other DTV stations are broadcasting... will have to wait until the summer/fall before ABC and others will get back on the air using the empire state building, but until then, I still have CBS, HDNet, HBO and SHO.


Again - enjoy your TV and take some time and apply those tweaks!!!!


Regards,

Aaron

 

[ksmith38]

Got home last night and had a message from my salesperson at OneCall just following up to see how I liked my new toys... Didn't want anything, just calling to make sure everything was good. That's good Customer Service, if you ask me!!


Or come to think of it, maybe he was just trying to see if I was sucker enough to buy something else!!

 

[Rop]

Hi Kevin,


Exactly the same story here. Got my GWII from OneCall just about a week ago now and am very pleased with it. Got my HTPC hooked up to it yesterday through DVI and played a few DVDs on it for the first time. My thoughts are "who needs a cinema!". It's awsome!


Haven't even done any service menu tweaks yet, so I'm sure there's still room for improvement.


Like you my deal was much cheaper than purchasing local (much cheaper than OneCall's listed price in fact) and with in-home warranty starting from date of purchase I was not too afraid of problems. The two times I've purchased from them they also followed up with a phone call to hear if everything arrived OK (and they didn't try to sell me anything). If only all online purchases could be this painless...


-Rob-

 

[ksmith38]

Rob,


Glad to hear you like your set. I could not be happier with mine. Can't wait to try out the new DVD player tonight. Found an RP82 for about a million$$, so I hope it looks good!!!


Anyone have any ideas on who would make a good quality/reasonbly priced DVI Cable?? I'm using the one that came with the HD200 STB and am looking for an upgrade.

 

[aaron.s]

Kevin,


I bought a Monster Dual-Link gold plated DVI cable at circuit city for $99.


I know it's a little expensive, but I use good Monster cables for everything else and am very pleased.


Aaron

 

[Rop]

Kevin, a cheap place for DVI cables is here . What you need is something like type DVISL-3, which is $18.


This is not the cable I purchased (I would have if I'd known about them at the time). I got this cable , which at the time was $40, now it's $44. Belkin is a good brand so you can't go wrong there.


Since we're talking about a digital DVI cable (single link is sufficient, the one I bought is dual-link, that works too but is not needed and makes no difference in picture quality for the GWII) it doesn't really matter how 'good' the cable is. As long as the bits get to the other side. Unlike PCM/CD audio there is no 'jitter' issue with DVI that I know off. I can testify that the Belden cable works very well, and on my LCD computer monitor it gives an absolutely sharp image at 1600x1200, even when examed 2" from the screen. Good image on the GWII as well, but not nearly as sharp due to the GW's circuitry (Meaning: A more expensive cable wouldn't do any better).


My recommendation would be to go with the $18 cable. I'll likely work just as well as my $40 cable or a $100 Monster cable.


-Rob-