WOWZERS!!!

unless my eyes deceive me, the SAM EXACT TV is on the redcon.es site where i go mine and for a fraction of the price stated on that site you linked to.

see http://www.redcoon.es/redcoon/urwfilter/product/do/acti...uct/21722/index.html

i read the specs of both yours and this one and they look identical: screen size, resolution, hdtv, etc...

i am floored since the msrp on that site you linked to was $4,499 and the redcoon price is 1,249 euros (1,521.92 usd).

this can NOT be the same tv, can it?

ok, your site lists it as Sharp "LC-32GD6U 32" while redcoon shows the model as "Sharp LC-32 GA 5" but i am pretty sure that is because most electronics manufacturers change model names and numbers for different markets (u.s., europe, asia, etc...).

so, if the above is all true, you could even sell yours for $3,000 and buy the same tv here for half that

hdtv: getting bigger here too but considering the "normal" stations here are just now going digital , it will be a while.

surge protector: ok wendy, that product you linked to at the apc site is not what i meant. that is an uninterrupted power supply (ups) and while they are good for desktops, they are unecessary for laptios since when the dc power source to a laptop is cut, the battery takes over. to protect against surges, all you need is a surge protector, not a ups as well which that unit is. to protect an expensive entertainement system is wuld not be a bad idea though.

also, if you want a ups like the one on that page, buy it here since the one you have linked to clearly states... "Input 120V/Output 120V" and the voltage here would fry it! that ups is made for use in the u.s.a.

i have a ups here, bought it from apc spain (http://www.apcc.com/index.cfm?ISOCountryCode=es) for my desktop a while back. here they are called "sistemas de alimentación ininterrumpida" (SAI).

ups are meant to continue the electrical feed to an appliance when the power goes bye bye, giving time for the power to cme back and/or for you to shut down a system properly. they are mostly meant to keep computers going and avoid crashes caused by power outages.

saludos,
jer...

p.d. TV ROTS YER BRAIN!!!

Dear God! Yes, Jer, you continue to go above and beyond the call of duty. I asked you guys about one aspect of this whole issue (hoping not to drag you in my shame spiral) and you go and figure out the WHOLE THING. (sorry, Ena, there is no platonic affectionate emoticon!) Ummmm....

Ok, that tv is close to mine but is an earlier model. The primary difference is that mine has a built in HD tuner-with that model on the site and most of the earlier models, you have to separately purchase an HD tuner (about $150-200). But, so what? There's no HD yet ANYWAY!?!?!?

That being said, the crazy expensive price you saw doesn't even hold true anymore (another reason why I considered not selling-the thing has lost at LEAST $1000 of value in less than a year!) I have to just LET THAT GO!

So, based on this conversation, I have been weighing this stuff all day-you have been getting me to the point that I am going to agree to sell this puppy here. And now I am finally there. Money wise, it makes sense, too-did I tell you the standards converter costs $800-also, let's assume Spain is going to charge me about that much in fun IVA when I bring it into the country (on the tv itself, let's throw in another $150 for the standards converter!) Also, don't forget the whole packing and shipping nightmare!

So, I am returning to the land of reason. As you have pretty much showed me that I can replace it (cause, ultimately, it's beautiful and I love it) for MUCH less than it would cost to get it there and make it work, I have come to my senses and will sell it (and all those cables, and accoutrements).

My only remaining question on this is-with regard to HD-the major issue I had seen online about that was that Europe hasn't settled on a standard for it yet. So while, here in the US, HD may not be widespread, it is standardized, so buying a tv now that is HD compatible (back to my well thought out investing for the future theory-advocated by CNET, thank you very much) means it will still be appropriate technology in 5 years or so when everything has gone HD. And now, the actual question: have I misunderstood the Spanish HD issue, and did you confront this when you were buying a flat panel (ie: are you going to want to upgrade it in a couple of years?)

As for my surge protectors, etc, thanks for clearing that up-now I understand.

On a completely unrelated note, I am a bit concerned about the NAME of that site red COON? COON? ummm.....but it seems a terrific site!

And yes, tv does rot the brain-except for the DAILY SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey wendy.

agreed on the daily show

as for vat (iva), you would not have to pay it as you could prove (via the receipt) that your tv is not new.

still, glad i could write some sense into you with my long-winded responses

as for my purchase of the plasma, NO, hd did not even come into play in my decision. not even something i thought about and not something i really care about. if hd kicks in strong here, i can always get an external hd tuner but i doubt it will be any time soon.

saludos,
jer...

Thanks so much for all your help!

Fun Redcoon fact: you can't buy from them without a CIF/NIF. A non Spanish passport doesn't count!

even more fun redcoon fact: make up a nif, they will never check!

order it c.o.d. and on the VERY OFF chance the courier asks for your nif on your id when they deliver, say all you have is the passport. heck, if the courier asks for any id at all i would pass out!

they either have to deliver and accept your cashola or take it back.

trust me when i say they will NOT take it back.

saludos,
jer...

Really? You can just make one up? Because you need it to even order! How many numbers in an NIF?

all i remember is that i had to drop the x off of my nif to make the ordering work.

a normal spanish nif has 8 numbers followed by a dash and 1 letter, like "12345678-T". i am pretty sure it is always the letter T.

a "guiri" (foreigner) nif has an X, 7 numbers a dash and a letter T like "X1234567-T".

feel free to use my nif to order if you cannot get it to work or if you do not want to commit identity theft

pm or call me if you want to go that way.

saludos,
jer...

My NIE ends in an S, my daughters has an L. Just make one up, but make it easy for COD as I got caught once. I made up a number, no probs, it was accepted.........but then they produced another document for me to stick the number on, and I had no idea what I had written on the first one

quote:

Originally posted by jer:
hey Wendy.
a LOT of people also pay for satelite (as you have read on the other threads) and if you are unfortunate enough to have telefonica adsl service you can take advantage of their new "imagenio" tv service (see http://www.telefonicaonline.com/on/es/imagenio/index.ht...me&v_hueco=monotema3 ) but i asked back when i used their adsl and they said the imagenio thang is not available in english.

saludos,
jer...

As requested I did a search on TV in English and found this thread. In the future my I suggest rather than shutting down a thread simply merge it with a current thread. This is what they do over at Toytown (toytownmunich.com) and its more effective than closing off a bunch of threads. Also less annoying.

Anyways I found out completely by accident that Telefonica TV has an OV option on certian channels Fox ASN Hollywood to name a few, press the yellow button and it switches to English (or what ever language it was recorded in) Made my day we can know understand what is going on when we wathch House, makes a lot more sense in English than it ever did in Spanish.

Still researching other OV options when I find out I'll post. In researching this I've found that most Brits opt for Sky, but then most live on the coast in villa and can have a 2 mtr dish.

quote:

In the future my I suggest rather than shutting down a thread simply merge it with a current thread. This is what they do over at Toytown (toytownmunich.com) and its more effective than closing off a bunch of threads.

yes, the germans are very efficient indeed, afraid we americans are not so efficient so i will stick to shutting em down

quote:

Also less annoying.

no more annoying than people who don't try simple searches before starting new topics

saludos,
jer...

That is a universal complaint of administrators everywhere

yep!!! sad but true!!!

back to the topic of this thread.

quote:

Anyways I found out completely by accident that Telefonica TV has an OV option on certian channels Fox ASN Hollywood to name a few, press the yellow button and it switches to English (or what ever language it was recorded in)

yes but even normal tv (non-paid cable) offers this. the following channels on normal tv offer english when they broadcast a lot of u.s. series and movies...

- tv1 ("la primera") - channel 1.
- tve2 ("la dos") - channel 2.
- telemadrid - channel 4.

this is because they broadcast in dual.

here at home, we have an antenna on the roof paid for by the town hall (don't ask why) for the people who live in the plaza mayor.

the antenna gets us all the normal channels plus eurosport (in english), cnn (in english), mtv germany, rtl (german) and a few others including another german channel i cannot recall the name of.

i recently put in tdt (see HERE) which gets me an additional bunch-o-channles that i am so far unimpressed by but the signal is crystal clear on all the channels compared to the way the image used to look.

as with normal tv, tdt offers vo on some channels that show foreign tv shows and movies.

quote:

Made my day we can know understand what is going on when we wathch House, makes a lot more sense in English than it ever did in Spanish.

funny, i am bilingual and my wife is spanish. we have been watching house since it came on here in spain and have only seen it in spanish (it is on "cuatro" which is a channel that does not broadcast in dual) ... makes perfect sense to us in spanish

saludos,
jer...

Well after much ado we are finally moved, and since this is a thread about TV I'd thought I'd post, we went with Telefoncia for TV internet and TV, we took the complete package and pay about 80 euros (not sure on setup costs as we haven't got the first bill yet).

Anyways, Telefoncia offers enough OV shows to keep us happy. It even offers a few documentary channels (Discovery etc) in English. The only thing they don't have is English shows, for some reason they never broadcast them outside of the UK. So if you only watch UK produced shows than you'll need Freeview, if you watch mostly American shows than Telefoncia will do fine.

Along the same lines does anyone know how to get Dutch TV, I have a friend who is Dutch and she'd like Dutch TV for the kids. I seem to remember a posting about it but can't find it.