John-Michael Del Valle’s Blog

Yesterday I got a call from my bestfriend Paula to meet up since she knew it was my day off. I was out anyways after spending too many hours playing Metal Gear Solid 4 (On last act). She wanted to meet up at Target near Brickell. I got there early and decided to visit the Circuit City in the mall. I really had the intentions of walking around and killing time till I realized my buddy in Verizon wasn’t working & I some how ended up in the HE department.

Since I’ve left working Circuit City I’ve honestly cut down my research on televisions. I truly did want to ask some questions. When I realized how incompetent this guy was I just drilled him, it was hard to resist. Honestly it got to a point where I just wanted to hear the non-sense this guy would say when I asked things towards the end. Hope you guys enjoy!

HE guy: Do you need any help or questions?
Me: (Standing infront of new Samsung 46″ 750) No thanks
::I soon realize that I don’t know the exact differences between the 750 and 650 and wrote the one of the Samsung reps asking for PDF’s of all the models to write a comparison:::

Me: (Walk back to the guy) Actually yes I have a question! What’s the difference between the 750 and the 650
HE Guy: Well this Samsung right here pointing to the 750 is the best. It is more user friendly, latest technology, and best resolution.
Me: That’s cool but whats the difference between the 650 and the 750
HE Guy: Like I said its more user friendly, better resolution, and newer
Me: What do you mean more user friendly? & I thought they both are 1080p?
HE Guy: When I say more user friendly I mean it has more things (points to the stickers on the set) & this one has more resolution. Theirs 1080p and then theirs some that have more resolution. The resolution and contrast make the picture. Also this set is 120 Hz.
Me: So you’re telling me this set has more resolution but they are both 1080p? I’m just curious about whats the difference since they both are 1080p and both have 50,000 Contrast.
HE Guy: (walks to 650 and grabs the tag and takes it to the 750) I’m really not too sure what else the difference is but the 750 is the newest model that came out
Me: Didn’t they both just come out at the same time? I just want to know what the $200 price difference is before buying one so I’ll do some more research. Thanks though
(walk towards the Home Audio department and realize ‘This could get really fun now’)

Me: I just remembered I have some questions about audio stuff. Do you also work in that department?
HE Guy: You need help with speakers and stuff?
Me: Yeah I have a few questions about receivers. What’s a good receiver you think?
HE Guy: Onkyo & Harmon Kardon are some of the best receivers out there (ohh many my old manager would of gone crazy not hearing Denon & when CC doesn’t even carry HK)
This Onkyo receiver is great and I’ve got one at home
Me: Yeah I have a PS3 and considering on getting another receiver and blu-ray player
HE Guy: This receiver is great I also got a PS3 and 1080p set and all the cables go into the receiver and one just straight too the TV
Me: Yeah I just want to make sure I get the best audio I can. I’m considering the new Panasonic blu-ray player since I heard it gives you the best audio but I want to know whats the bet set up.
HE Guy: The PS3 is the best blu-ray player, has all the audio stuff you need, loads real quick, and good solution
Me: I’ve only considered the Panasonic cause the audio. I’ve heard the PS3 doesn’t do all the audio and the Panasonic does. I want to get the DTS-HD MA & Dolby TrueHD
HE Guy: Yeah the PS3 does all that stuff
Me: That sounds good I just don’t want to spend the money on a $500 receiver thats real good but doesn’t decode the audio. I heard thats the problem with the PS3 compared too the Panasonic. Where does the audio get decoded if I got the PS3.
HE Guy: Well the receiver does all that since you got the HDMI cable running too it.
Me: I’m just worried man and don’t want to spend that much if doesn’t do it. I’ve heard all this talk about Bitstream and PCM. Whats the difference between the two?
HE Guy: I really have no idea
Me: Do you know anyone that does?
HE Guy: (grabs the other two HE guys walking around the area)
Me: Hey can you tell me what the difference between Bitstream and PCM is?!
Two of the guys: No I don’t know
Me: I just don’t want to buy a $500 if I don’t know where the audio is being decoded
One of the guys who has black shirt on instead of red polo: The receiver does all of that (points to tag that says HD Audio)
The other guy: Honestly man you can get a receiver that has optical and get your audio separate. I recommend that too people go from the PS3 to the TV and optical to the receiver for audio.
Me: Well doesn’t that defeat the purpose of uncompressed audio?! The receiver I have now I use optical and only get 2 channels of uncompressed audio with the PCM thing on the PS3.
The other guy: Yeah I’m not sure both the cables are the same. I know that HDMI cables just use audio and video. Optical cables can carry all the sound.
Me: Well isn’t that the whole point of the new HDMI cable that it has more bandwidth so you can get 5.1 and up too 7.1 channels of uncompressed audio?! It says PCM Uncompressed 2 channels on the PS3 and thats why I asked whats the difference between Bitstream & PCM.
The other guy: Honestly man I’d just do some more research then cause we don’t know
Me: Alright thanks man, Its just this place is a lot closer too me. Ohh by the way do you know the difference between the Samsung 750 and 650?
The other guy: Ohh its the same TV inside exactly just cosmetic differences
Me: Ohh ok thanks I just didn’t understand the $200 price difference

Seriously felt kind of guilty and almost wanted to be like guys I’m just fucking with you I use to work at Circuit City down South but just the fact how they made things up to sell something to me sort of made me realize they deserve it. More user friendly? Higher resolution? Optical same as HDMI? They lucky I didn’t ask them to explain what 120 Hz really is and why Plasmas say 480 Hz now? Or something seriously hard like what 3:2 pull down is what pull down does. I left out the part of the differences between the Sonys cause it’s not as funny.

For info about differences between PCM & Bitstream read my article on Why is added DTS-MA important too the Playstation 3

I’m hoping all Circuit Cities in the Miami area aren’t like this. My old Manager left the store I worked at, my Supervisor was suppose to be transferred to the store I visited and made Manager but got screwed, and the store I left has a supervisor now that I guarantee doesn’t have any clue what the ‘.1′ in 5.1 or 7.1 actually stands for probably (it’s the sub woofer if anyone wondering). I guess when you’re paid $8 an hour you don’t really take pride in your work.

Circuit City is NOT filling for Bankruptcy. When I made the post about it, I never made it as if it were a fact. I clearly said it was a rumor and heard it from someone else, law firm. Back when I posted those post I said that I would follow up on it and I did saying it was a rumor and Circuit City was in talks with Blockbuster.

Technorati Tags: Circuit City, Circuit City Employee's, Circuit City Home Entertainment, Circuit City Miami

Recently:

• las cosas nunca suceden la misma manera dos veces
• How to get TrueHD & DTS MA without using a HDMI cable
• Sony XBR 8 vs Samsung 9 Series
• Blu-ray Basics - Blu-ray is there a difference?
• Upcoming post… AV Receiver buying guide
• Miami Art Week-end
• YouTube HD - 720p only
• Obama might not take office if true?!
• LCD vs Plasma Television Guide
• Dubstep Tunes