[sdilley14]

I just got a new LCD (42" Sanyo LCD, 720p, 1500 contrast).

Sanyo 42" Widescreen LCD HDTV with Digital/Analog Tuner, DP42647 - Wal-Mart

I mainly picked this one because it's HD, big, and under $1000. I didn't want to break the bank getting something 1080i/p or whatever and this one more than does the job for me. Running my XBOX360 Elite through HDMI looks amazing on it, but playing DVDs on my 4 year old standard Sony DVD player looks a little crappy to be honest.

Would this new Samsung upconversion DVD player make a noticeable difference?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11219356&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&eCat=BC|79|2341|2593&N=4001380&M o=8&pos=0F&No=6&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&am p;cat=2593&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang= en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC4484-ProdID11225997&topnav=

It's reasonably priced and seems to play about any format. Should I be good to go with the cables that it comes with or do I need to go out and get some other high-end cables? It looks like this comes with HDMI cables and my TV has 3 HDMI outputs on it. I honestly don't know a whole lot about this stuff as I have been out of the home entertainment loop for quite a while.

Also, my cable TV looks a little iffy as well. I don't think there's a whole lot I can do about that though. I don't think the provider offers digital cable and it's just a set top box with coax going from the box to the TV. Do I have any options with that to improve picture quality?

And finally, what would be the simplest way to connect my MacBook Pro to the LCD?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[stevesnj]

Even non upconvert DVD players look great on these TV's, if you like the current pic of your DVD player now keep it and wait for a bit for the Blu-Ray HD-DVD players to come down in price then go for a tru Hi-Def DVD player that compliments your TV. Enjoy!

[Super Mario]

I thought a XBox 360 firmware update added DVD upscaling?

what would be the simplest way to connect my MacBook Pro to the LCD?

DVI or DVI to HDMI adapter.

[sdilley14]

It might. We won't have internet access at our place until tomorrow and I haven't been able to download any updates for the 360 yet. I'll have to look into it tho.

[Mastrap]

We got an upconvert player free when we bought our Samsung and it does make a huge difference. I was really surprised just how good ordinary DVDs look.

[SVass]

The high end cables are not a good investment as they offer nothing more as long as you are not in an "electrically noisy" environment which is not normal in a house/apartment. Digital tv works or it doesn't! Any progressive scan dvd player connected via component or hdmi cable should work reasonably well. I assume from your comments that your cable company does not offer HD programming and conventional analog signals blown up on a large set can look atrocious. sam

[Railroader]

How do you have your DVD player hooked up to the TV? If it has component outputs, use those. Also, is the DVD player a progressive scan model?