Bringing TV and Home Theatre system from US

[mks]

We are not having much luck selling my home theatre system and rear projection TV. We are thinking about just bringing them with us and using a transformer. Any thoughts?

[ching]

One of my friends brought a huge rear projection TV over. Not sure how his electrical experience went, but I do know they had problems finding a flat with enough living room space for the TV!

This may not be a problem for you, depending on how big your TV and your apartment are

[durain]

if your TV is not multi-system, i wont work in singapore. US use NTSC and singapore use PAL.

[jaesun]

Not only is the analogue signal different, but the digital and high-definition signals are also not compatible. Singapore uses DVB-T.

Rear projection TVs are rare here. You'll be glad that you left your out-of-date TV back in the US when you see some of the new LCDs that are out now. If you can't sell, consider donating the TV to your favorite charity/school/church/nursing home and getting the tax write-off, which might be more in your pocket than if you had actually sold it anyway.

You should leave most of the other parts of your home theater system behind as well. Depending on how sensitive your audio system is, you might end up with a noticeable hum or buzz when you use an unregulated transformer. If you buy a really nice TV, a few of the places will throw in a speaker system and DVD in as a package deal. It's not like going to Best Buy or Circuit City here. They will throw in extras but you have to ask and then ask again for a better deal.

[mks]

I appreciate the advice. We have both up for sale for another week. After that they are going to charity.

[monkton]

Whoa - i knew about the difference in electrical systems, but I didn't know the digital signals were different here than in the US.

I just moved here 2 days ago and my 42" panasonic plasma tv is on a container ship on its way over here. I planned on buying an electrical converter for it then just using whatever cable box is supplied.

Here are the specs from my manual:

power source: 120 V AC, 50/60 Hz. it uses 345 watts when it's turned on (I can get a converter for this, right?)

color system: NTSC, PAL, PAL60, SECAM, Modifi ed NTSC

Since it is PAL-capable, it should be able to receive and display info from whatever cable provider I use, right?

Also - can anyone recomment a top-end power converter?

Thanks in advance! I'm now wondering if I should have given it to my brother or brother-in-law, both of whom were hoping to "inherit" it from us when we left...

[jaesun]

Even though your plasma probably has a HDTV tuner that picks up over the air HD channels in the US, it won't in Singapore. The US uses ATSC while Singapore uses DVB-T. Doesn't really matter since there is only 1 HDTV channel that is broadcast over the air, and only the newest Samsungs have internal HDTV tuners here in Singapore.

You could still get HDTV with the proper converter box for cable or OTA.

[monkton]

Ok - thanks, Jaesun; that's what I thought. I'm not worried about over the air channels - in fact, does anyone on the planet refrain from getting cable/satellite once they've purchased an HDTV?

[jaesun]

worst case scenerio, you might want to check this out.

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showt ... ?t=1725825

You'd be surprised about worldwide access to HDTV on cable or satellite. It's relatively new outside of the US. Even in the UK, it's only been out for about a year and a half. HD5 has only been out for about 2 or 3 months here.

[monkton]

I'm going to need a serious power converter to be able to handle my 42" plasma and my home theater system - has anyone done the research who can recommend a top-end converter that can handle some serious wattage?