Okaaaayyyy...... If I run HDMI, I would also want the Cat5 for the IR (since the TVs would be on different levels of the house). If I did HDMI over Cat6, I'd probably also need another line for IR in that case too, plus expensive "converters". Does (can) the Cat 5 run along with the HDMI cable? Where would you have them located in relation to each other? If I use HDMI for the main HDTV where the cable box/DVR will be located, I can't then use the component output at all for other TVs--I would have to split and use HDMI, right? It's one or the other signal? Thanks! I'm meeting the LV guy at the house tomorrow to mark what I want and where. Maybe a few more questions: I think we'll use TWC telephone, but I only see the need for 1 actual phone location, the rest will be "satellites" of this. This will be Cat5, right--and you just plug the plug the phone into it? If there are other Cat5s run for computer, do we need to differentiate these (from that used as phone line)? Anything else I need to keep in mind, or consider, or ask of the LV guy??? Thank you all for your help! Tracey

If you have a Blu Ray DVD player or plan on getting one, it makes far more sense to get a 1080p plasma or LCD, since the output of a Blu Ray player is also 1080p. Also, many people omit getting a reasonably good surround sound system. The dialog, sound, and music is very much a integral part of movie watching. The Blu Ray players have the newest high resolution audio codecs, besides the best video performance. One should get at minimum a sound sytem called a 5.1 That means a left and right front speaker along with with a center speaker (which is very important, as most of the dialog comes through that). Then you add a left and right suround speaker along with a self-powered subwoofer, which handles the low sound frequencies along with a lot of the lowest special effects. If for design purposes you don't want speakers out in the room, then it is possible to get good on-wall speakers or even in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. Greg

Personally we prefer Sonos. We have experimented with HEOS (Denon's equivalent), Yamaha's MusicCast, Airplay in various licensed products and a few others. From an app standpoint, all pretty good with each having slight advantages and disadvantages when compared against each other. Some have a harder time syncing up their audio output when playing in multiple rooms, causing a slight echo effect when the different zones are close together. Sonos does this pretty well. Lutron has partnered with Sonos to offer up an audio "Pico" for local zone control, furthering its attractiveness. When paired with a Lutron Caseta lighting system for example, you can add a 3-way lighting circuit Pico and a Sonos audio Pico in a 2-gang Lutron Claro wall plate with NO wiring. Pretty slick! From a sound quality standpoint, we feel Sonos is the best so far. Adding to this the equivalent easy of use to the app and negligible if not non-existent multi-room echo effect we feel it is the best buy. Notice I say "so far" however as new offerings come out every day. For example, one product offering that could greatly effect our Sonos recommendation is the Apple HomePod. At $349 retail is it aimed directly at Sonos so we will see what happens when that comes out at the end of this year .

It also stinks that when I had an online chat with someone at Samsung, asking if there was an audio jack like the one in our previous Samsung of the same dimensions, all they told me was "No." I made it clear that being unable to use headphones with the TV was a problem for me, they still gave no hint of any workaround that might accomplish it. I was probably chatting with someone who was just going down a list, and the list didn't suggest any alternatives to the jack; but that and our frustrating experience trying to attach the new-type of stand to the TV make me think that S. is not, or is no longer, a very customer-friendly company. Still like the electronics themselves, though. As to the Toslink cable, I understand from online comments that there is not a standardized size for the port. That means that it would be nice if the people selling the cables, and the people selling equipment with Toslink noted the sizes somewhere. Perhaps some did and I happened to miss them. I'm grateful that Radio Shack was there and that I had the sense to consult them, even though their fiber optic cable was more than double the price of the first one I bought. And since this cable is quite thin compared with the first one, I also spent a bit more to have the reassurance that I could get a free replacement if it should stop working. It also had no little protective caps on it, so I sent a nod of gratitude to you for the warning not to touch the tips. A lot of stores where we are in CA have disappeared or are about to. Von's (still available, but now 6 miles or so away), and KMart (now only available maybe 8 or 10 miles away, and in a direction we seldom take), to mention the ones I am most upset about. Yard-goods stores are also on the decline. I make most of my own clothes, so that is a real PITA, too. Fortunately, one such chain has a big store in a nearby city and a smaller one 4 miles from us. There are some things you don't want to buy online, or that you may want immediately. Ah well! We do still have Best Buy (which doesn't always have what we want), and WalMart, right in the same mall. No electronic junk store any place near, so far as I know. But then, I tend to want someone to help me figure out exactly what I need so as not to have to return things. There is a big Fry's Electronics within 1/2 hour's drive, but they seem to be hiring fewer and fewer people who could help you out if you could only find them. The new TV has two HDMI ports, and it uses one to connect with the indispensable Cox Cable mini-box that unscrambles digital signals. HDMI is still an alien creature to me! For example, I don't know why I must use HDMI-2 and HDMI-1 won't work for that purpose; am wondering what HDMI-1 would be used for. So long as this ignorance is not depriving me of anything I need or want, it shouldn't matter, but not knowing does bother me a little.