Panasonic Plasma: First Thoughts

So I've spent the day with my plasma, and I grow to like it more and more.

The TV got its first major test today, as I watched Game 3 of the NBA finals.  One of the major reasons I got this TV was because I watch lots of sports, and I can't stand watching fast action sports on LCD TVs.  I have to say, the set looks fantastic.  I've been watching the games on my 24" LCD monitor, which is actually pretty good.  Now I don't want to compare an LCD monitor to an LCD TV, as they are different beast, but nevertheless, I didn't know how great the game could look having never really watched a true HDTV in the comfort of my living room.

Every Kobe drive and all of Sasha's Daggers were brought to me in crystal clear High Def.  The TV produces an unbelievable picture with amazing color accuracy.  The dish installation comes on Thursday, so I will have to wait a few days to get dozens of HD channels, but the OTA broadcast is pretty good.  Not much beats a Lakers win, the only thing that might would be watching a Lakers win on this HDTV!

Once you get HD, its hard to go back.  I only have two true HD sources, OTA broadcast and a few 1080P films I have on my computer.  Other than that I only have my DVD player, my Wii, and my old Xbox, none of which will output a true HD signal.  The TV does an adequate job of upscaling the picture, but compared to HD it just isn't the same.  Pictures are of course noticeably softer, but what else can you expect?

The Panasonic Plasma Arrives

My Panasonic 50" Plasma, the 50PZ800U, arrived today., right on schedule.  I was very anxious to get it and despite the fact that it arrived early in the delivery window, It still seemed like it couldn't get here fast enough.  The delivers brought it in the door, unpacked it, set it up, and put it on my console.  Overall, a fine experience.  Didn't like that it took almost a week to get here, but really you shouldn't expect much more when ordering something like this online.

My first thought when they placed it on my console was, "Wow, this is a beautiful TV."  My second thought was, "Wow, this thing is huge!"

I'll have to post my thoughts on the TV in a little bit when I get a chance to really put the TV through its paces.  But here are my initial thoughts.  Keep in mind that this is my very first HDTV, so my perspective is one of a neophyte.

 TVs don't look the same as they do in the store - Seriously, it's like night and day.  I looked at this TV A LOT in the store and my opinion of it is very different than now.  I read all the forums, and everybody would say that you shouldn't judge a TV by how it looks in the store.  It was really hard for me to do this.  The bright fluorescent lights completely distort the picture.  Most of the time, TVs are set to "vivid" mode which makes the picture extremely bright and over saturates the colors.  In the store it looks great.  At home, it looks like everyone has bright orange skin.  This TV has a THX mode which is supposed to make the picture extremely accurate.  In the store, the picture looks washed out.  At home, it is by far the best setting.

 HDTVs need HD material - Don't get me wrong, the Standard Def material I have seen looks OK, but it doesn't look great.  I have played several different sources on this TV.  The best sources have been of course Blu-Ray Movies and over the air HD signals.  The TV looks fantastic when using these high quality sources.  SD sources like  SD TV and standard DVD look OK.

I did have a little bit of a scare.  It seems the TV doesn't like it when I connect my PC via HDMI.  The TV refused to power on and the little red light in the front blinked at me seven times.  I had to dig around the AVS forums to find an answer.  I was forced to unplug the HDMI connection and power cycle the TV.  This bothers me a little bit but it is something I can work around.

More thoughts after I get a chance to use the TV a little more.  But so far, so good!

Delirious with Anticipation

The TV arrives on Monday, already have the delivery scheduled.  I'm anticipating the thing so much, I almost want the weekend to end so I can get the TV.  Yes, I've finally reached a new level of craziness.

It had arrived in LA early Friday morning.  I was a little disappointed that they couldn't deliver it before Monday so I could enjoy it over the weekend.  In good news, the TV has all of a sudden become much more expensive on Amazon.  It's about $100 more than where I bought it, and about $200 more when you consider the rebates Amazon gave me.   I was hoping the TV would continue its downward price slide so I could continue to cash in on rebates, but it doesn't look like its going to go below my new base price anytime soon.

Biggest Scam in the World

I've discovered what the biggest scam in the world is. But I'll get to that in a second.

I'm still eagerly waiting for my TV. I've grown really impatient, and now part of me wishes I just went into the store and haggled it out with the people there. I watched the NBA finals on my computer and kept thinking to myself how much better it would look on my new 50" Plasma TV. The hardest part of the wait is that there is no new update where the TV is. It got to Columbus and the it seems to have stalled. For all I know, it is close to LA and they just haven't updated the status. Not knowing where it is sucks.

So what is the biggest scam? It has to be HDMI cables. Seriously, I just don't get it. Go to any store and try and buy a HDMI cable. I guarantee you won't find one for under $30 and most likely will have to pay $50 or $60. If you buy a Monster HDMI cable, it will set you back $100 or more.

Here is the thing though, it really doesn't make any sense to buy one of these cables. HDMI is a digital signal. Long story short, either the signal gets there or it doesn't. So long as the signal gets there, you are going to get a crystal clear picture. The chances of you losing the signal on a short cable length are not very high. Some argue that the better cables give you more bandwidth but really this is a bunch of lies and most consumers will never know the difference.

I bought my cables from a company called Monoprice. They had a good selection of cables, their prices were excellent, and their service was fantastic. I got my cables in a few short days from them and paid only $6 for my 10" HDMI cable. Same cable in the store would have easily cost me $50 anywhere.

The thing that perplexes me most though is that I have never seen a cheap cable in a store. I've seen them all over the place like at Monoprice and at Amazon, but have yet to see a cable for around $10 in any retail outlet. It's odd. Simple economics would tell you that retailers shouldn't be able to charge these exorbitant amounts when a cheap alternative so clearly exist. There is clearly a demand for these types of cables, but yet nobody has yet come in and offered a cheap cable. It may be that HDMI is still not as standard as some of the other cable types, since HDMI is only available on higher end TVs. But still, I find it odd.

Any thoughts on what is going on here? What do you think is the biggest scam out there?

Hardest Part of Being a Manager

I was having a conversation with someone today about being a manager.  Being a manager is one of those things that everybody thinks is really easy but in reality is never as easy as you really think it is.  There are a lot of challenges most people just can't deal with.

Now, I'll be the first to say that if you have the right attitude and mindset it can be a relatively easy job.  You see, managers don't really do anything.  There, I've said it.  In the end, they are responsible for the work of others and generally don't produce anything concrete themselves.  Now that may sound nice and easy, but it has its own very difficult challenges.   The hardest part is dealing with the people themselves.

In a perfect world, people would just do what you tell them to do, do it well, and do it without complaint.  But the world is never perfect.   In fact, more often then not people are going to fall short in one of those three areas and you are going to have to deal with it.  Now here is the hard part, how do you deal with it?  If you are like most people, you want to be liked.  Humans have this desire to be liked by other people.  However, all good managers at some point have to be an ass.  Either someone is going to screw up, and you are going to have to tell them they screwed up, or you are going to have to tell someone something they don't want to hear.  Perhaps they are behind schedule on a key project or you can't give them the promotion or the position they want.  Whatever the case may be, most people do not want to be the bearer of bad news.

I've learned to deal with it in a relatively easy way.  I've just accepted that work is not a popularity contest, it's work.   If people decide they don't like me because I had to tell them something they didn't want to hear or make them do something that they didn't want to do so be it.  I've made plenty of friends in my life and a few people not liking me is OK.  That doesn't mean I'm a jerk at work, I hate those guys as well, but at work, I do what I have to do to get the job done.   Most people accept that and even respect that.  In fact, I have found that most people hate those managers who go to the other extreme, try to please everybody.  In the end, when you try to please everybody you please nobody.  So long as you are consistent in your message, and people know you are working toward the good of the company or the team, things seem to just work themselves out

Tracking the TV

Like any good obsession, I'm watching very closely where my TV currently is. Unfortunately for me, my TV started all the way on the other side of the country in Harrisburg, PA. It is slowly (very slowly) making its way across the country to me. It currently resides in Columbus, Ohio, where it is resting before continuing its journey westward to L.A.

TV is "estimated to arrive" on June 11th, which gives it another week to make the rest of the journey. This is most definitely one of the reasons to buy your TV in a brick and mortar star, instant gratification. I've already paid for the TV, I would like to be enjoying it right about now, but I wait. Considering I got it for almost $1000 off MSRP, I suppose its worth the week+ wait, but it isn't easy.

Too Much of a Good Thing

I went to an all you can eat sushi place for dinner tonight.  I was determined to get my moneys worth so I ate and ate and ate.  All told I had about 10 pieces of sushi a Rainbow roll and a roll that consisted of a spicy tuna/shrimp roll topped with Salmon.  To give you perspective, my girlfriend, who normally probably eats as much as I do, had the same Spicy Tuna/Salmon roll and was quite full.

I seriously don't remember ever filling so full as I did at the end of that meal.  I was full to the point of feeling a little nauseous.  It's odd how people try to maximize something even to the point of their own detriment.  There was actually very little point in me to continue to eat.  The amount I was going to pay for the dinner was a sunk cost, there was no way my eating was going to affect the final price I paid.  I probably would have enjoyed myself even more if I had stopped two pieces of sushi earlier, but my consumer instinct told me to have that one last piece just to make sure that I got a good deal.

It was a completely irrational act but I did it anyway, and I'm sure I will do it again.  We all do.  Humans obsess over things that in reality have no bearing on the future.  The stock market is actually a pretty good example.  So is housing at the moment.  I held on to my e-trade stock, as well as a few others, WAY longer than I should have because I was so under my cost basis.  It was dumb.  My cost basis really had nothing to do with what the stock was going to do in the future, but for some reason, I kept thinking about it and refused to sell it when I should have.  It literally was a mistake that cost me a few thousand dollars.