Monday, December 21, 2009
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8:46 AM
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First off, you need to know a little background about me. I am a gamer. I'm not just any gamer though: I play Wii games and PC games most of the time. Now the Wii has the ability to go to 480p, which isn't as good as the Xbox 360's 720p/1080i or the PS3's 1080p, but it's good nonetheless. For those knowledgeable about TVs, you know that many HDTVs on the market have 720p/1080i native resolutions, and more and more are becoming 1080p compatible. These TVs are known to have lag when displaying something smaller than its native resolution, since it has to upscale the image. Example: Try playing Wii's Guitar Hero games with a composite cable (Yellow, White, and Red), which outputs a standard 480i signal, on a 50 inch 1080p TV. You will notice that the actions in the game happen noticably later. Press A to have Mario jump in any Super Mario game and he jumps a few frames later than you expected.
Now I was looking for a TV with a 480p resolution because I am really sensitive to the aforementioned lag from upscaling an image. I play a little known game called Super Smash Bros. Melee (Super Smash Bros Melee), which requires almost frame-by-frame reflexes when played at a high level (You remember Ken Hoang from Survivor in Fall 2008? This is the game he was a world-reknowned champion at) (SSBM plays at 60 frames per second. That is 60 pictures that the TV is producing in 1 second), and any frames that are a little late throw off my game, and any gamer around me. A native resolution of 480p is a must for the TV I was looking for.
The other must was having the ability to plug in a PC VGA output. I own an HP HDX 16t (HP HDX16t Premium Series Customizable Notebook PC), which is one amazing laptop. It essentially is a desktop replecement being one of the few 16-inch notebooks on the market. Now, as a tech enthusiast, and one who loves to multitask, I need two monitors. I've been living a one monitor life for so long, but after purchasing this TV, I am one happy camper.
One major flaw I can find in this TV is that it is susceptible to what is known as ghosting. It's not really something that would make or break my descision about this TV, but it's definitely a problem that I know other people would be annoyed at.
Now, I have a bit of a comment about this product/product page... It says it has a 16:9 aspect ratio, but it's maximum resolution is 1440x900, and, if you do the math, it's definitely a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is not that big of a deal, but it is a minor lie. Now 1440x900 is a pretty good resolution and it can definitely display a 720p signal (usually 1280x720), but 1080i signals (usually a 1920x1080 resolution) will be downscaled to 1440x900 (or maybe even 1280x720, I'm not really sure how downscaling a 1080i image works). This is just something to watch out for. If you're looking for something that can do 1080i, this is not the TV for you. In fact, if you're planning on doing any living-room based TV watching, I would not recommend this TV at all. It's too small to notice the difference between SDTV and HDTV.
This is a perfect product, however, for those who want a TV on their desk/dresser/counter/whatever in the bedroom. This is also perfect for those who want to use the Wii's full graphical capabilities. My ex-roommate was talking to her boyfriend on the phone while I was playing Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and she was like "Oooh, pretty. I'm gonna stare at the TV for a bit..." Note: she is not a gamer at all, and that shows a lot about how 480p can make a difference in terms of just pure beauty that the Wii can display. Lastly, this is an awesome second monitor for my awesome notebook PC. Sure, it's smaller than some of the larger 1920x1200 monitors out there, but for someone who doesn't need an amazingly amazing resolution, this will make you happy. If you are someone who fits any or all of the criteria above about who this is perfect for, I'd say this is worth the purchase because this was definitely worth it for me.Get more detail about Audiovox FPE1708DV 17-Inch LCD HDTV with Built-in DVD Player.
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