Here are some other categories of gifts that we could spend a lot of time discussing. I’m only hitting some big points here. The best way to figure out the right TV or camcorder is to go the store, check out the pictures, camcorder features, etc, and then look to see if your budget will support what you are looking for (the budget always comes up, doesn’t it?)
Flat panel TVs: These of course are the rage. Why buy a TV with a big tube sticking out the back when you can get a flat panel one and save yourself room (and also some back ache) when taking out of the box and setting up. These TVs come in a myriad of sizes from very small (I’ve seen them under 20” diagonal) to over 50” in size that can fill up a good portion of your room.
When buying flat panels there are two main types to look at: LCD and Plasma.
LCD (liquid crystal display) units can be wall mounted or put on a stand, and have a flat screen and shallow profile as everyone is looking for currently. These systems don’t have a phosphor coating on the screen, so you don’t have to worry about a “burned in” image on the screen, which can be nice. Recently, LCD TVs have started to come in bigger sizes, which used to be the domain of plasma ones (which I will get to next). One measure of TVs now is how the blackest “black” on a unit contrasts to the whitest “white” that can be displayed. The LCDs do well, but they don’t measure up to the plasma units currently.
Plasma’s have a more impressive ratio on this measure, and thus will have an advantage. Also, plasma TVs are considered superior when there a number of different types of images up on the screen (light and dark). This can be an advantage for playing video games, or for those of you with a real desire to be able discriminate every detail in your favorite movie. Another factor to look at is resolution (how many lines being utilized to form the picture). The 1080p mark is the top standard right now. You will also find 1080i resolution, which doesn’t use as many lines. If you are big into games, you will want to opt for a 1080p unit. Otherwise, if you just watch standard shows in HDTV then 1080i should be fine for you.
I’ve noticed that LCD models will tend to cost less than plasmas as an additional thing to look at. If you are a real connoisseur of fine detail on movies or games, you will want to pay more an opt for a plasma tv. If having a very good picture at a decent price and you aren’t so much into games, than an LCD TV is probably what you are looking for. Both LCDs and Plasmas come with HD-TV tuners (typically if they are over a certain size), so you just need to have a cable or satellite system that is delivering the HD signals to get the nice detailed images for your weekend sports or favorite shows that you like to watch. All the main manufacturers (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic) tend to make very good units. I have seen Vizio at places like Costco and similar stores. They tend to be cheaper and still have very solid images, although they may lack some of the amenities of the better known brands. I suggest going to your favorite store, check out the pictures, look over the prices, and determine what makes most sense for you or the one you are buying a gift for.
Camcorders: Remember the days when the camera had to be big enough to handle your VHS tape cartridge? Those days are long gone. You can now get camcorders utilizing mini-DVD drives and also those that leverage hard drives in the cameras themselves.
The big choice here is what format do you want the video saved to. The options include: DVD, mini-DV, Hard drive, Hi-8/VHS-C. As I have looked these over at the various stores in recent months, I find myself thinking that the DVD and Hard drive units are the best way to go. The other options that include some kind of tape (mini-DV, Hi-8) don’t appeal as much to me. To get that video footage transferred over is not as easy in my opinion, and I have always felt (and experienced) more things going wrong with these kinds of options If you rule out those options we are left with the DVD and hard drive units that are out there. The DVD disks can be played in various DVD drives, so not much of a problem there. However, the amount of time you can record on one (30 minutes to one hour based on the mode you are recording in) is somewhat problematic. Also, the slow record mode that allows you to get more on the DVD tends to cut down the quality of the video.
If you look at the camcorders with hard drives in them, you shouldn’t have to worry about the amount you can get on the drive. A standard 30 GB hard drive unit can record as much as approximately 22 of the small DVD discs that the other cameras use. Hmmm…sounds pretty good to me.
Transferring the video content to a home computer for burning on to a standard CD/DVD disk should be pretty easy as well. I don’t know about you, but getting hours of video on a hard drive before I have to record over or erase previous content sounds appealing to me. If you have a computer with standard ports on in it (think USB), you should be fine for transferring. I haven’t read anything negative on video quality either in my perusals of various websites. You will find prices somewhat under $500 to over $700 or more based on the size of the hard drive in the unit and whether it can record in high definition or other formats. I would think 30 GB would work well for most folks, but bigger ones up to 60 GB are available as well.
So, there you have some of my thoughts on other gift ideas for the holidays. What has your experience been with these products? Share your stories (good and bad) as you have ventured out looking for flat panel tvs and camcorders.
Happy Holidays!