New Toy for New Year

I'm a browser; that is when I am in the mall, I browse merchandise, usually at an electronics store. Otherwise I would be sitting in one of the mall benches looking at other browsers.

If I want to purchase something big, say a Blue Ray or a television, I would search first on the Internet and look for customer reviews. I remember buying a big screen TV way back in 1996, and it took me at least 6 months before selecting a particular brand, and my first DVD, way back in 1999, after 4 months of research.

My friend Al bought his HD television, a Panasonic DLP a couple of years back and he explained to me the advantages of DLP over Plasma and the LCD, he being an engineer.

Well, like Al, I also wanted an HD TV, but again, I toiled at the idea and did my research once more. I crossed out Plasma because of its short life span; I crossed out the LCD because I did not want to change lamps. In my office, I used to replace the lamp in the LCD projector and it cost my department money.

Well, late last year (actually about mid-November), I finally finished my agonizing research and decided on a purchase of a Samsung 61 inch-DLP TV. It is a series 7, which means it is has the Samsung CinemaPure 120Hz color engine, HDMI connections and others, and a 1080p resolution. But the main reasons I chose this one is because of its LED (Light Emitting Diode) which means I don't change lamps for a long life performance. And the number 1 reason? It is 3D-ready, which means I can watch 2D movies on 3D!

Now, I waited two days before it was delivered, asked the assistant super to help carry it on the pedestal (it is huge), and started to fiddle with it to watch a 3D movie. But wait... how to?

Before I purchased it, I already researched the requirements for the 3D connectivity, but I didn't realize it would be this much work. The other guy at the electronics store purchased the same brand and make and he would have to wait for at least 1 week, because I got the last inventory. He told me he owned a Plasma and it died on them after a few months of extensive use doing video games. He, too, could not wait to experience the 3D magic, he said.

I am now sitting and waiting for my 3D connectivity. The only thing I am wating for now is the installation CD from AOL. Unfortunately I am still among those who faithfully use AOL for my Internet; and my old computer which has internet connectivity is an Intel Celeron. For the 3D to function, I should have at least an Intel Pentium 4 1.6GHz or Athlon XP or the ideal - IntelCore 2 Duo or Athlon64 X2 Dual CPU.

The 3D glasses, router and 3D-enabling-software from Tridef arrived before Christmas and the required Vista-operated computer with the required graphics card and HDMI-DVI port, is sitting on my dining table, waiting.

It's 2009 and my Holiday gift to myself had been unwrapped before Christmas arrived. Now, I already started to list in memory the movies I will rent and watch on 3D. I am on my own countdown...