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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 19, 2008, 01:35:14 PM

Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 19, 2008, 01:35:14 PM
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41RGNoV5b9L._SS500_.jpg&hash=a13831211ca2ae72bf99ea16da7074c10af82ff3)

61", 1080p  Samsung LED DLP, with matching stand.

Giving my older TV (55 inch Hitachi RPTV 51S500) to my father.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: luckee on March 19, 2008, 01:41:16 PM
sweet...what did it run you for both?
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 19, 2008, 02:25:57 PM
I got.....

Samsung HLT6187SAX 61" Slim LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV
Samsung TR-500X3B Adjustable 50-, 56- and 61-Inch DLP TV Stand
 Toshiba HD-A30 1080p HD DVD Player
2-Year Service Plan for Televisions $1,500 to $1,999.99

And a few cables for right at $2,300.

I was leaning towards the Mits 73 inch DLP, but I can\'t get it unless I want to  rearrange my whole living room and redo all my cabling. Then there is the whole issue of replacing the bulbs.

The TV I am giving to my father is about 5 years old and will be replacing his 32 inch. It\'s in great condition and excellent PQ, as I\'ve spent countless hours calibrating it . I hate to part with it, but I wanted to move up to 1080P and get something that has some HDMI ports (the Hitachi has one DVI). Not to mention the smaller footprint is a bonus.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Coredweller on March 19, 2008, 02:50:47 PM
Did you use an online vendor, or did you buy at a retail store?
 
I don\'t shop for this type of hardware very often, so it\'s nice to see get a sense of what prices to expect in the real world.  This is much cheaper than what I paid for my (now ancient) Toshiba rear projection TV.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: fre4d4 on March 19, 2008, 03:02:06 PM
Raz thats a pretty sweet unit
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Viper_Fujax on March 19, 2008, 03:05:25 PM
nice..i\'ve always been a big fan of samsung
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 19, 2008, 06:15:56 PM
Saweet! Getting the Onkyo 605 receiver?
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Luke on March 19, 2008, 07:37:16 PM
Very, very nice.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: clips on March 19, 2008, 07:46:03 PM
And i thought my hitachi 55\' was huge...damn..that\'s a sweet hookup LIC...but you\'re not usin\' this for gaming correct?....football sundays is gonna be off the scale at your crib!...:fro:
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 20, 2008, 01:57:33 AM
Quote
Did you use an online vendor, or did you buy at a retail store?

I don\'t shop for this type of hardware very often, so it\'s nice to see get a sense of what prices to expect in the real world. This is much cheaper than what I paid for my (now ancient) Toshiba rear projection TV.

Amazon.com.
Free shipping and best price.

Quote
Saweet! Getting the Onkyo 605 receiver?

No sound until we  move. I don\'t want to run cables in this apartment.

Quote
And i thought my hitachi 55\' was huge...damn..that\'s a sweet hookup LIC...but you\'re not usin\' this for gaming correct?....football sundays is gonna be off the scale at your crib!...
It\'ll be gaming also.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Evi on March 20, 2008, 04:22:22 AM
I\'m not a big fan of DLPs. The quality is just ass compared to plasma screens... especially the new 25,000:1 contrast plasmas that just recently came out. It\'s like night and day better picture. That\'s still a sweet set up though, I\'m just not big on those. Still though, I wouldn\'t be complaining if I were watching a movie or playing games on that TV you got there. :thumb:
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 20, 2008, 04:29:51 AM
Quote from: Evi
I\'m not a big fan of DLPs. The quality is just ass compared to plasma screens... especially the new 25,000:1 contrast plasmas that just recently came out. It\'s like night and day better picture. That\'s still a sweet set up though, I\'m just not big on those. Still though, I wouldn\'t be complaining if I were watching a movie or playing games on that TV you got there. :thumb:


And because of that, DLP\'s are a dying breed. But LIC has kids and a mortgage so he can\'t spend $2600 on a Sony 46XBR (IMO, among the top 3 best LCDs out there). He got the whole setup for $300.

Besides, I doubt he\'s a videophile like me (now that I got my XBR :) ).
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Evi on March 20, 2008, 04:37:27 AM
When I move into my new place later this year, I\'m getting a 60", but then again, I\'m throwing down about 8-10 grand on a home theater set up. I watch a lot of movies and I\'m sure as hell staying away from having kids until I\'m at least 30. x_X
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 20, 2008, 11:02:18 AM
I can\'t justify the price for a Plasma, not to mention I don\'t personally care for the looks of them.

Quote

Besides, I doubt he\'s a videophile like me (now that I got my XBR  ).


I\'m a videophile, but it all comes down to budget and what you want. As much as I love PQ, I still need a decent size screen. In fact, anything less than 55 inches is too small in my humble opinion.

Quote
When I move into my new place later this year, I\'m getting a 60", but then again, I\'m throwing down about 8-10 grand on a home theater set up. I watch a lot of movies and I\'m sure as hell staying away from having kids until I\'m at least 30. x_


I can\'t afford to spend 10 grand on a home theater. I do plan on buying another TV when we purchase a home. As it is, I would rather spend a budget amount and get what is a great DLP.  

-shrugs-

It all comes down to budget and what you need / want.  I don\'t care for the digital / clean look of plasma\'s and LCD\'s . Not to mention the price of \'em.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: THX on March 20, 2008, 11:05:26 AM
No one here is a videophile or audiophile, you little enthusiasts. :ele:

Nice set btw!
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 20, 2008, 11:06:18 AM
Audio means nothing to me, personally. I had a modest sorround sound system and took it down.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 20, 2008, 11:35:47 AM
I live in a condo. 1 speaker is enough to make a faux surround sound. Yay for hardwood flooring! :laughing: Now about those echos....I really need more curtains.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Evi on March 20, 2008, 01:26:21 PM
Quote from: Raz The Friggin Grea
It all comes down to budget and what you need / want.  I don\'t care for the digital / clean look of plasma\'s and LCD\'s . Not to mention the price of \'em.
They\'re certainly a lot cheaper than they used to be, but it all comes down to personal preference and yeah... budget. I like the weight of the plasmas as well. I remember our old 42" Sony Wega... thing was like 300 pounds. It took like 4 guys to carry it downstairs when we moved. The plasmas are only around 100 pounds or so.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 20, 2008, 03:17:09 PM
Quote from: Evi
They\'re certainly a lot cheaper than they used to be, but it all comes down to personal preference and yeah... budget. I like the weight of the plasmas as well. I remember our old 42" Sony Wega... thing was like 300 pounds. It took like 4 guys to carry it downstairs when we moved. The plasmas are only around 100 pounds or so.


The hitachi RPTV weighs 238lbs.
The 61 inch Samsung weighs 78lbs.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Evi on March 20, 2008, 04:10:59 PM
Yeah, the DLPs don\'t weigh shit. It\'s nice. :)
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: videoholic on March 20, 2008, 04:25:24 PM
What in the world cables are you buying for 300 bucks?  Holy cow.  HDMI cables are only a few bucks a piece.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 21, 2008, 01:57:12 AM
Quote from: videoholic
What in the world cables are you buying for 300 bucks?  Holy cow.  HDMI cables are only a few bucks a piece.


I wanna know where you got that?
I paid about 10 bucks for 2 HDMI cables.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: videoholic on March 21, 2008, 04:03:40 AM
yeah, that\'s my point.  how do you buy 300 bucks worth of cables?  Just curious if there was more to the system or what...



"$1,999.99

And a few cables for right at $2,300."


The difference between 2,000 and 2,300 is 300.  Oh, I guess the 300 is tax...
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 21, 2008, 05:17:37 AM
Quote from: videoholic
yeah, that\'s my point.  how do you buy 300 bucks worth of cables?  Just curious if there was more to the system or what...



"$1,999.99

And a few cables for right at $2,300."


The difference between 2,000 and 2,300 is 300.  Oh, I guess the 300 is tax...


Samsung TR-500X3B DLP TV Stand

Toshiba HD-A30 1080p HD DVD Player
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: videoholic on March 21, 2008, 05:34:54 AM
Quote from: GmanJoe
Samsung TR-500X3B DLP TV Stand

Toshiba HD-A30 1080p HD DVD Player


"Samsung HLT6187SAX 61" Slim LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV
Samsung TR-500X3B Adjustable 50-, 56- and 61-Inch DLP TV Stand
Toshiba HD-A30 1080p HD DVD Player
2-Year Service Plan for Televisions $1,500 to $1,999.99

And a few cables for right at $2,300."



Those are in the 1999.99 price.  

Bah, who cares.

Nice tv.:fro:
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 21, 2008, 07:35:16 AM
LIC is bad in math.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: clips on March 21, 2008, 08:54:30 AM
Quote from: GmanJoe
LIC is bad in bed



Damn...gman..first it\'s you and uni..and now LIC?...you get around don\'t you?.....your ass must open longer than 7-11!!!....:D
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 21, 2008, 09:41:17 AM
Quote from: clips
Damn...gman..first it\'s you and uni..and now LIC?...you get around don\'t you?.....your ass must open longer than 7-11!!!....:D


My ass is but a tiny spec compared to your galaxy-eating-Black Hole.

:p
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 21, 2008, 03:17:06 PM
Quote from: videoholic
"Samsung HLT6187SAX 61" Slim LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV
Samsung TR-500X3B Adjustable 50-, 56- and 61-Inch DLP TV Stand
Toshiba HD-A30 1080p HD DVD Player
2-Year Service Plan for Televisions $1,500 to $1,999.99

And a few cables for right at $2,300."



Those are in the 1999.99 price.  

Bah, who cares.
I just didn\'t write a price for each item.


Nice tv.:fro:

No they\'re not.

I just failed to copy each price tag for each item and rounded it up at the end.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: CHIZZY on March 23, 2008, 10:18:40 AM
I need an HDMI cable, bestbuy\'s cheapest is $50...where to get a $10?

no time for google, working 60 hrs a week... you know, gold and shit..



BTW, anyone remember me telling you fools to buy gold @$300 an ounce 3 years ago? ;)
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Viper_Fujax on March 23, 2008, 11:16:17 AM
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Evi on March 23, 2008, 01:43:35 PM
Quote from: CHIZZY
I need an HDMI cable, bestbuy\'s cheapest is $50...where to get a $10?

no time for google, working 60 hrs a week... you know, gold and shit..



BTW, anyone remember me telling you fools to buy gold @$300 an ounce 3 years ago? ;)
Why the fuck are you looking at Best Buy? All their shit costs ten times more than it should. They sell fucking USB cables for like 40 bucks when the same shit on Newegg is 4 dollars. I just bought a pair of 2.1 THX certified PC speakers for 95 dollars and the same speakers were 165 dollars after tax at Best Buy.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Paul2 on March 23, 2008, 07:47:25 PM
best buy, circuit city, and other major retail stores charge as much as 10 times higher than what is really cost to fool consumers into thinking it\'s made from very high, expensive, quality material when it\'s actually very cheap to manufacture and the value is again, 5 to over 10 times less than what\'s really worth.

why did they charge that much?  profit motives.  Say if the cable is only cost $1 to manufacture, and the wholesale usually sell it at double the amount of $2, and the retail like best buy should sell it at $4.  Where half the profit goes to best buy and the other half goes to the manufacturer.

But what if the manufacturer like monster cables convince best buy to sell it 10 times higher than what\'s really worth?  That means both best buy and monster cables, each will make 10 times the profit instead of the usual 2 times profit.

Like this, 10 times the amount of 4 dollars is 40 dollars.  Where $20 will goes to best buy and the other $20 goes to Monster Cables.

that means the CEO of monster cables is filthy rich living in luxury and what not.  You can say that Best Buy is also making unfair profit too on accessories like cables.

Don\'t be fool by the look of the cable either.  Sometimes they make the cables look fancy, colorful, and different on the outside, but the inside is just like any other cheap cables.  Sometimes they over design the look on the outside that the plug is too tight or maybe too loose that it won\'t fit on the connector.  I honestly had encounter that with my 3 foot RCA coaxial cable made from monster cable where the ring is a bit too tight that it wouldn\'t insert all the way in.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Paul2 on March 23, 2008, 07:58:44 PM
Again, like many other members had said, if you want very reasonable and fair on pricing on cables.  Go to [COLOR="Cyan"]www.monoprice.com[/COLOR] (http://monoprice.com).  


digital is digital, so a cheap 15 foot or shorter HDMI should work fine like any other cables.  when it comes to digital, the length of the cable is the Achilles heel.  Unless you plan on getting an HDMI longer than 15 foot, than that\'s where the quality of the cable should be in consideration and that\'s where the cost jump really high.

But for most people, 10 foot or a bit shorter cable is plenty enough length.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: JBean on March 24, 2008, 05:03:42 AM
monoprice kicks ass.. their cables are really high quality, at least the ones i\'ve bought from them.  I\'ve told a bunch of my friends about it and so far everyone has had a really positive experience with them.

yay

a 3ft HDMI cable for $7.10 (incl. shipping) (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024007&p_id=3871&seq=1&format=2)
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: CHIZZY on March 24, 2008, 08:46:28 AM
nice... thanks. Was already in bestbuy, getting the 20" LG for the bedroom, so I thought I\'d look. They seriously had no cheaper HDMI cables.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Paul2 on March 24, 2008, 09:11:37 AM
Quote from: CHIZZY

nice... thanks. Was already in bestbuy, getting the 20" LG for the bedroom, so I thought I\'d look. They seriously had no cheaper HDMI cables.
its becoming a trend for years.  Even other retail stores are doing the same like Circuit City. Some small electronic stores are also overcharging on cables too.  Monster Cables brand is notorious for that.


Oh, I think 3ft HDMI is still a bit too short.  I would at least get 6 ft.  its only cost a few bucks more for the 6 ft version.

Link (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10243&cs_id=1024008&p_id=4026&seq=1&format=2)
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 24, 2008, 09:17:38 AM
<  - Still waiting on TV / stand / cables / movies / HD DVD player / book.

:(
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 24, 2008, 09:31:08 AM
Quote from: Raz The Friggin Grea
<  - Still waiting on TV / stand / cables / movies / HD DVD player / book.

:(


You\'re still waiting for WWZ?

Strange.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 24, 2008, 10:46:29 AM
Quote from: GmanJoe
You\'re still waiting for WWZ?

Strange.


No - I got it and have almost finished it. Excellent book, by the way. Think I have about fifty pages left and dread the end of it. I read some every night before I go to bed.

Waiting on The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia.

Also waiting on...

The Hulk (HD DVD)
Feast (HD DVD)
Day of Dead (Blu Ray)
The Frighteners (HD DVD)
Scary Movie 4 ( HD DVD)


Not to mention the TV, stand, cables and the Toshiba HD DVD player.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: clips on March 24, 2008, 10:56:53 AM
I kinda thought the hulk was a snooze fest....but feast was great and day of the dead is just classic...who can forget "Bud"....:D.... i never did see the frighteners...
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 24, 2008, 11:00:58 AM
Quote from: clips
I kinda thought the hulk was a snooze fest....but feast was great and day of the dead is just classic...who can forget "Bud"....:D.... i never did see the frighteners...

It\'s Bub...Bub, damnit. The only bad thing about "Bub" is his creation led to the eventual creation of "Big Daddy", one of the single worst idea\'s in zombie movie history.

The Hulk is a snooze fest, but I bought it for the PQ and the fact that I buy anything comic related. I\'m a dork, I can\'t help it.

Never seen Feast, but heard good things.

The Frighteners is an under appreciated classic.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 24, 2008, 05:05:36 PM
So, I\'m thinking of buying the Onkyo TX-SR505 and a set of 2.1 speakers. I know that receiver is overkill, but it\'s only for right now. When we move into a house, I will upgrade all the speakers.

Any suggestions? I don\'t want to spend a lot, just getting it because it\'s fairly cheap and TV speakers are teh suk!
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 25, 2008, 07:21:40 AM
Went ahead with it.

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hometheatershack.com%2FOnkyo-TX-SR505-Receiver%2Fimages%2FOnkyo-TX-SR505.gif&hash=8bd8d2c7ebcb9fcfd5ed15133faaa5bb8730d9f2)


Now to find some bookshelf speakers and a center. Not gonna bother with the rears until we move.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on March 25, 2008, 08:21:55 AM
I want Frighteners. It\'s like Ferris Bueller graduates and ends up a loner/loser.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: JBean on March 25, 2008, 08:57:38 AM
you don\'t mind the the HDMI on that unit is busted Raz?
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 25, 2008, 10:32:03 AM
Quote
you don\'t mind the the HDMI on that unit is busted Raz?

Huh?
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: JBean on March 25, 2008, 12:08:33 PM
While that is a nice receiver, it\'s HDMI won\'t extract the audio signal, only the video.. in my mind, sort of defeats the purpose of even having HDMI in the first place.  The quotes below are taken from the first 3 user reviews of the Onkyo TX-SR505 from Amazon.com

Quote
It cannot extract the audio channels from HDMI. It also cannot do any upconversion or downconversion so you have to wire every possible video source to your TV. The whole reason I bought this thing is it could take HDMI S-Video, and Component inputs and switch them to my TV. I wasn\'t careful enough.

Quote
The HDMI circuits in this receiver DO NOT pass the audio portion of the program; they pass only the video portion. This necessitates the use of the analog audio or optical digital audio outputs to provide the audio portion of the program to any connected device (such as a high definition television). Since one of the main reasons for the existence of the HDMI specification is to simplify connectivity, one has to wonder what the engineers (or, more likely, the marketing and accounting department heads) were thinking when they decided to hamper this connection circuitry! While it\'s true that many people may only want to pass the video program portion to a connected monitor, routing the audio through the receiver\'s amplifiers and on to the connected loudspeakers, one should not purchase this receiver thinking that it has full HDMI connectivity, because it doesn\'t. Otherwise, this product represents a very good buy.

Quote
This receiver is a joke. Even though it has two HDMI inputs, it won\'t play the audio from those inputs. You need to set up a separate audio input. What\'s the point of having HDMI then?!?
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 25, 2008, 12:37:54 PM
It\'s a budget receiveier. I don\'t expect everything.

As for not passing HDMI audio - doesn\'t really bother me. Optical cables are cheap and I only need two.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Paul2 on March 25, 2008, 01:16:47 PM
if you don\'t care about lossless and uncompressed multichannels sound quality.  Then optical cable is enough.  Because optical cable doesn\'t support lossless audio codecs mostly because of copy protection.

It seems like only HDMI can carry all the famous audio codecs.  Beside HDMI, there is also firewire.  But I guess that receiver\'s model doesn\'t support audio pass through for HDMI to cut cost.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on March 25, 2008, 01:47:33 PM
Quote from: Paul2
if you don\'t care about lossless and uncompressed multichannels sound quality.  Then optical cable is enough.  Because optical cable doesn\'t support lossless audio codecs mostly because of copy protection.

It seems like only HDMI can carry all the famous audio codecs.  Beside HDMI, there is also firewire.  But I guess that receiver\'s model doesn\'t support audio pass through for HDMI to cut cost.

I\'m gonna run two front\'s and a center. Sound quality really isn\'t the biggest importance to me and if I do decide to buy a different receiver a year down the road, it\'s no real big loss.
Hell, if TV speakers didn\'t suck so bad, I probably wouldn\'t get anything. As it is, I\'ll pick this up fairly cheap and it\'ll do while we live in this apartment.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on April 02, 2008, 05:28:59 PM
TV came in.
Found a Wii at Wal-Mart.
New HD DVD player.
This day friggin\' rocked.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: luckee on April 03, 2008, 10:10:54 AM
Quote from: Raz The Friggin Grea
So, I\'m thinking of buying the Onkyo TX-SR505 and a set of 2.1 speakers. I know that receiver is overkill, but it\'s only for right now. When we move into a house, I will upgrade all the speakers.

Any suggestions? I don\'t want to spend a lot, just getting it because it\'s fairly cheap and TV speakers are teh suk!



If you are looking into Onkyo, check out the HTiB systems. You can get the a refurbed SR800 for $289
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on April 03, 2008, 11:08:43 AM
I\'ve spent so much lately. Need to hold off on ordering more stuff for awhile.

In the last two weeks I\'ve bought.

New TV
TV stand
Wii
Super Mario Galaxy
Eight Scooby - Doo DVDs\'
Feast / The Thing / Scary Movie 4 / 300 /Bourne Idenity / The Hulk / Frighters (HD DVD)
Planet Earth  / Return to house on Haunted Hill (Blu Ray)
Toshiba HD DVD player.
Hdmi Cables

Time to chill out for a bit.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on April 03, 2008, 11:19:25 AM
Did you finish WWZ?

What\'s your theory about North Korea? Are there 30 million zeds waiting to crawl out of their bunkers? :)
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on April 03, 2008, 01:10:16 PM
Quote from: GmanJoe
Did you finish WWZ?

What\'s your theory about North Korea? Are there 30 million zeds waiting to crawl out of their bunkers? :)


Not only that.
But I\'ll never go into the ocean again.

So, in summary.

I, welcome our  North Korea zombie overlords.

I, won\'t ever swim again, due to the fact that Lucio Fulci is right - there is zombies at the bottom of the ocean. I don\'t know if they are having battles with sharks, but I know that they are there at that is enough for me.
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: GmanJoe on April 03, 2008, 08:27:25 PM
The chinese submarine story was my favorite. Never thought about a nuclear sub being the best thing to have in a zed infested world. :D
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: THX on April 03, 2008, 10:21:29 PM
^ When is that book going to be made into a movie you nerds?
Title: My new baby..........
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on April 04, 2008, 09:41:31 AM
Quote from: GmanJoe
The chinese submarine story was my favorite. Never thought about a nuclear sub being the best thing to have in a zed infested world. :D


That was also one of my favorites. But for creep factor, I think the opening story of the doctor visiting the village is one of the best in the book.

Least favorite? The female pilot. I wanted her to die before that story was over.