Sunday, October 28, 2007

Got a new TV for the bedroom - pondering DVD solution


Now that the analog broadcasts have been shut down I figured I might as well get a new TV for the bedroom. I wanted a 20-23 inch widescreen TV with a built in DVB-T tuner and HDMI and there weren't that many options available. I ended up getting the Philips 23PFL5522D (clever name there, Philips!) which I'm pretty pleased with so far.

The TV sits up on a shelf and we view it from below which means I have to crank up the brightness quite high to get a good picture. When I stand up and look at it straight the image is far to bright, but it looks good from the bed.

With the TV in place I now need to find a media solution for this one as well. I'm currently thinking about:
  • Xbox 360 Arcade as a media extender to my HTPC. As an added bonus I also get a gaming console. The Xbox also has a built-in DVD player. It might be a tad on the noisy side though.
  • Sansa TakeTV (not available in Sweden yet AFAIK). Nice small form factor, but I need to rip movies before I can watch them. Rather inconvenient.
  • Small DVD-player (there's not enough room for a full size DVD player). Not sure what's available, I might need to do some research here. This might double as a DVD player for the car. I would like one with HDMI, and I haven't seen this yet.
  • Other options? AppleTV or a Mac Mini perhaps? Wait and see?

No comments: