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(singing) you say "tomato," i say "pc tv hdd recorder"

In Japan, sales of PCs with TV tuners built in account for 84%+ of the sales right now. The units with built-in LCD screens are also gaining in popularity (presumably because the upgrade market in Japan seems lifeless -- most people seem to want to buy a whole new machine rather than upgrading part-by-part). Of course, this makes a lot of sense when one considers that LCD televisions, even itty-bitty 17" ones are about ¥80,000 and a standalone HDD recorder is another ¥5-to-70,000. Why spend on those two elements when you can get a PC for less, and also use it to browse the web and do email?

It can't hurt sales that apartments are small enough that even when sitting on the opposite side of the room from a 17" monitor, it looks like a 60" screen. Why are those LCD TV's so expensive? The TV tuners in the PCs are apparently throwaway-level inexpensive, so it can't just be the tuner adding cost. What's up with that?

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