Mi 5X 4K TV

Recently my Samsung TV which I bought in 2012 went bust. The panel started cracking and showed patches. It was a 3D TV and the service person said the panel had to be changed and it will cot 40 K and it is better to go for a new TV. The sad thing is we don't have 3D TVs in the market any more. All my bluray 3Ds will go waste.

When I started to research for new TV I could see there was no one place where we can get genuine information. Amazon and Flipkart many times specifications are incorrect for ex they mention 2 HDMI ports while the brand website might mention 3 HDMI ports. Many times they don't mention if the HDMI is 2.1 or 1.0 or 2.0. Again only if we know so many variations exists we can buy the right thing. No single place provides this information.

If you take visuals there are Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+, HLG etc and in audio you have Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, Dolby Atmos, DTS - X etc. From operating system point of view we have Android with its 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, Tizen, WebOS etc. From ports point of view we have ARC, eARC, Optical digitial out etc.

I agree it is good to have choice but as a consumer it is difficult to make the choice. 

My old Samsung TV was good in all front but it costed me a lot and at the time of buying I was not aware of the features it had. Having used to that I didn't want to miss out on the vital features.

I noticed there were so many reviewers available in youtube even in Tamil but they focus on some fancy stuffs rather than on essentials. Also these guys are biased while a group says Mi is the best there is another one who says Sony is the best and Mi is worst. Even there are reviews where they call Samsung and LG as subpar.

The retailers are in different mode Vasanth & co supports Samsung while Croma store supports Sony. To buy a Sony you have to pay lot of premium. Again having owned Sony products it will cost you more but will not offer some critical feature.

For a novice buyer everything will look similar but only when you try to use each feature we will learn what is not supported and what is.

I found Mi 5X series having Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, it had eARC support and 2.1 HDMI support. It also supported DTS - HD. This was the only TV which had all these features and cost at least 30 K lesser compared to branded ones. 

Yes it doesn't have two way bluetooth support or ambient mode. Also the "nits" may not be as good as a TV which costs as bomb but nowdays lifetime of a TV is 3 to 4 years. I feel it is not worth to shell out a lot unless you have lot of surplus.

I am happy with the purchase and you do research your stuff before you buy yours.

Affair with cable

 My affair with Cable is an on and off one. I prefer to watch movies or programs without any ad interruptions. Our Tamil channels are notorious with advertisements. Especially Raj and Vijay can kill you with advertisements. Also the time I get to spend on TV has reduced considerably over the years. Another factor is if I spend time on Cable my DVD and Bluray collection remains untouched. The final nail was the new TRAI rule which increased the cost to a new high.

Earlier I had Tata Sky and their cost was high and even to look at issues in their service they will charge you. You will be charged just for the visit. I discontinued Tata Sky and remained Cable free for almost an year. Then I heard SCV cable provides almost all HD channels for a low cost. I switched to SCV and everything was going file till TRAI interfered with their illogical rule. I discontinued again.

I almost forgot how watching cable felt until I was admitted in hospital for few days where I had the opportunity of watching cable. This made me to take the service again in Dec 2019. After few months I felt the channels just repeat content and I really didn't have time for Cable in my life and discontinued it.

Now during the quarantine I saw people passionately enjoying programs in Cable which again made me regret my decision to discontinue cable. Again I have installed Cable against my family's objection.

I have not watched it continuously for 30 minutes since installing. Should see how long this will last. 

Jurassic Park - Bluray

It was one of the toughest decision I had to make whether to go for Jurassic Park Bluray as I already owned the series in DVD. After days and days of dilemma my heart won over my mind and I ordered Jurassic Park - The Ultimate Trilogy.

There is no doubt that this is one of the most best series in the world of movies. If I have to rank them The Lost world would come at the bottom. The first part and the third one ends in tie for the first place.

Regarding the blu rays I found the third part having extremely rich visuals and audio and then comes the first part. I was not that impressed with the second parts transfer to bluray.

The blurays are definitely a step above the DVDs on the audio front but on the video front it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the DVD and bluray but for most of the part visuals are more stunning than the DVDs.

So if you are in dilemma on whether to live with DVDs or go for the bluray do not think again go for the bluray especially when it is available at such a good price in www.amazon.co.uk.

Sucker Punch

 

Well Well Well where should I start? This is one movie which I have been wanting to see for a very long time. When the movie was released I didnt give it much thought but after watching Dawn of the Dead remake I became a fan of director Zack Snyder and desperately wanted to see this movie. When the blu ray era arrived I reserved this movie for blu ray. After watching the trailer in Amazon my expectations only grew. Finally I ordered it through Amazon and ordered the extended cut as I wanted drink in all the action.

Finally when on friday night I sat to watch this I was disappointed with the sound effect of the bluray. That too after watching some good sound effect from Resident Evil series I was really disappointed. After the first fight I dozed off, yes really. Even Emily Browning couldnt keep me awake.

Continued to watch it on Saturday afternoon and again dozed off inbetween. Finally when the movie was over I was sad I had spent some good money on this movie. The soundtrack was one on which I had great expectations but due to not so good sound quality I couldnt enjoy it.

After going through imdb there are still people who say there is lot more to Sucker Punch. I will definitely give this another chance. There are movies which I had liked only in the second sitting. I wish this is one such movie otherwise its 10 USD down the drain.

Resident Evil

Though being a big fan of Zombie movies for some reason I have always been avoiding Resident Evil series. But when Amazon announced release of all 4 movies bluray boxset, I decided why not. I have finished watching first 3 parts and my views are mixed.

On the movie its not exactly a typical zombie movie. It has lot of elements in it with the hero being a super human being who can dodge bullets from series of machine guns and can do some things which only superman can do. The movie has non stop action so we should just hang out all logical reasoning and sit back and enjoy the action. Many things wont make sense but still good action. Some characters do irritate when they behave as if they are in Ridely Scotts Alien.

On the bluray though I am extremely satisfied especially with the sound effect. The discs has some extrodinary sounds not only for the movie but for the trailers included as well. This is definitely one movie which can test the capacity of our speakers.

Transformers

For some reason, which I still dont know, Transformers never triggered any interest in me until I bought my blu ray player. Being an audiophile when I wanted to test my player and amps capacity I was sure this is one movie which will be very useful.

I read lot of negative reviews about Transformers and Michael Bay in general. In imdb forums if you dont appreciate an art house work you will be immediately be branded as  a person who is fit only to watch a Michael Bay film. After watching Transformers I dont agree with such comments. There are movies which can touch your heart and there are movies which will make you forget what is happening around you and will run in full throttle. Transformers is one such movie, atleast for me. The bluray and the amp delivered an excellent audio visual treat.

The movie in some way reminded me of Terminator:Judgement day. Two robots looking for one boy, one good and another evil. The movie had some excellent CGI work. The deset scenes were excellent. I felt like I was in the middle of the battleground. There was also some good dose of humour. The battle of good vs evil is never gets boring especially when the adversaries are equal in strength. I am already looking forward to watch Revenge of the Fallen. The 3D blu ray of  Dark of the moon is also on its way. I am looking forward to some exciting moments.