Newbie (again)

Greetings... I've been out of the home theater scene for quite a few years now. And I'm looking to get back into it in a very slow way. But first, I need to demonstrate to the wife the joys of a decent home theater before I can get deep into it.

Here's what I have right now (it depresses me to see how far I've fallen)...

1) Standard Dev TV
2) Widescreen LCD Monitor (not TV) (And I'm very disappointed in the monitor itself. Apparently, it doesn't support anything but a very small number of resolutions. None of which are provided by the Comcast HDTV Cable Box. I turn on the monitor and I see 2 seconds of very nice looking TV output and then *BLANK*. Nothing. Nada.
3) XBox 360
4) Comcast HDTV Cable box (which obviously isn't doing a thing for me right now). I picked it up yesterday because the old box I had stopped working and I knew I'd be upgrading the system in the very near future (thanks to the Uncle Sam Savings Plan [aka Tax Return])

So, what I'm looking for is suggestions on a receiver and HDTV (preferably LCD) that I can get relatively cheaply to demonstrate to the wife how good it can be.

I'm looking at a Westinghouse LTV-19W6 for the TV (The size isn't wonderful, but I don't have a large theater room anyway) and a Sony STR-DG500 with some low-middle of the road speakers. I can pick this up for around $525 or so. Is there better alternatives out there that would be around the same price range?

I'm hoping that the wife will like it enough that she'll "allow" me to upgrade the system slowly throught the following year(s).

[Eddie Horton]

For inexpensive LCD TV's the Westy's are hard to beat. For an inexpensive receiver with great features that gets good wife acceptance factor, check out some of the digital receivers like the Panasonic SA-XR55 or the newer and a little more expensive SA-XR57. The Pioneer 1015 also gets good marks as one the better budget receivers right now.

[Prof.]

Hi Tony and welcome to the Shack..
Lots of knowledgeable people here who can help you with equipment selection..

[basementjack]

There's a store here called Frys, - I know they don't have one by you, but you could check the weekly ads at www.frys.com or http://frys-electronics-ads.com/

I've seen a few times now, a complete panasonic surround setup with speakers, sub and either a reciever/dvd player or an intergrated all in one unit. I believe the price was $250.

My TV reccomendation is a bit of a different direction...
I wouldn't get one.
Instead, in your price range, I'd look for a cheap projector on ebay - I just sold my old Projector for $320, so I know good projectors exist in that price point, but it would take some looking.
Anyhow, if you want to impress the wife, then you have to impress her friends, and no 19" TV is going to do that no matter how good it looks.

My wife isn't into this stuff at all, but she loves the projector and can't wait to show it off when her friends are coming over. I just had her ask when we were getting the new one, because she thinks it would be cool to have people over for the super bowl. (We have a beautiful 50" plasma - yet she's asking about the projector)

Maybe you can't wing this, and I'd respect you all the same, I know everyone's got limits in what they can do, and to keep the peace at home, not to mention the checkbook in the black. But if it's a direction you would consider and want to know more, we're just a question away right here at the shack...

[Sonnie]

Hello Tony and welcome to the Shack!

I'm sure you'll get plenty of good suggestions on what you are looking for. Be sure to check out all of our forums and ask questions, post threads, etc... we are here to help all we can...

[kano32]

Welcome, welcome, welcome,

Don't be depressed. You have alot to look forward to, all the planning and salivating over new stuff. It's going to be fun!