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  1. #1

    Can anyone give TV buying advice?

    Hey guys and gals,

    The wife wants to buy a TV tomorrow what with all the sales and all, and I was hoping you guys could give some advice. What sort of requirements should we shoot for? Keep in mind, we are NOT crazy techno people, and we don't have a lot to spend; a grand at the VERY VERY VERY most, keeping in mind the sales. Someone was saying we should shoot for LCD and not plasma, and for something like 1080 pixels or somesuch that I didn't understand.

    Can anyone give some basic advice on makes or stats to look for? Remember, just looking reasonable; if you have a three thousand dollar TV and that is what you will give advice about, you are of no help to me now!

    Thanks all!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC area
    The Post did a quick write up today on tech, including an HD TV section:

    Instead, first note the room where you'll put the TV. If it won't hold a screen over 30 inches, you can get a bulky but cheap CRT or spend a little more on a flat-panel LCD. From 30 to 40 inches, LCD is best. Between 40 and 50 inches, it's either LCD or plasma; above 50 inches, "microdisplay" DLP or LCD projection sets offer the greatest value.
    -jk

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    As someone who is a little techno-geeky, I would reinforce the Post's advice about LCD and something between 30 and 40 inches. Vizio is a reliable brand that has made their mark with low-cost LCD's. WalMart carries some that include a 42" HDTV for under $900.

    By the way, get HD. Any TV purchased today should be HD - you can pull HD over the air form your local channels with a special antenna if yo don't want to buy it from cable/satellite. Basketball in HD is a beautiful thing.

    Exiled

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    definitely try to get 1080, 1080p if you can swing it. lcd is cheaper but the choice between plasma and lcd depends some on how you want to set your tv. plasma weighs a lot less and is thinner so is better for hanging on the wall but lcd is cheaper and may suit your needs if you're gonna put it on a stand or table. lcds can be hung but the weight would make that more difficult.

    get the biggest tv that won't overpower your room and take into consideration your seating arrangement. too big a tv from where you're sitting will give you a headache and you'll see the limitations of the resolution more easily.

    make sure it has the most up to date hdmi connections. i don't know if that's a problem nowadays but early first generation hdmi connections may not work correctly with newer dvd players from what i've read. but it looks like hdmi will be the standard for high def transfer. that being said i bought a 720p plasma last year and don't use a hdmi connection for my standard def dvd player. if i wnated to hook up almost all blueray or hddvd players i wouldn't get full resolution without using hdmi.

    don't buy a set with more features than you'll use. my set is a monitor only as the cable box does the processing. i saved hundreds and maybe thousands going this route but prices have gone down a lot since then so the savings may not be as great buying a set with a tuner and speakers. i had external speakers and a 5.1 receiver which you may not have.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Southern Pines, NC
    I'll add a vote for LCD 1080P HD if it is in your price range. If price is a problem, find one that can process 1080I. The P is for progressive, state of the art, and I is for interlaced, not so state of the art. Prices will be lower, even lower this weekend. My wife and I recently bought an Olevia 32" for the bedroom. I am so impressed that we decided to go for a 42" as soon as we decide what brand.

    One annoyance with the Olevia -- it is a real bear to set up. Another annoyance, from the broadcasters -- they transmit so many different screen formats that it can be unpleasant. Commercials are the worst, but some of the program material does the same thing. When a true HD picture is transmitted, it is a joy to see.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Walnut Creek, California
    Quote Originally Posted by willywoody View Post
    plasma weighs a lot less and is thinner so is better for hanging on the wall but lcd is cheaper and may suit your needs if you're gonna put it on a stand or table. lcds can be hung but the weight would make that more difficult.
    This is seriously wrong. The LCD's are much lighter than the plasmas. They are also less expensive generally.

    As for performance, the best LCDs seem to be the Sony Bravia, the Sharpe Aquos and the Samsung. I have a big Samsung I like a lot. I have a little Vizio, but it's sharpness leaves something to be desired. You might also want to be aware of the viewing angles. The less expensive models are not as good to view from the side of the set as the picture fades out if you aren't looking straight on. Again, room placement can make the difference here. The three I mentioned don't have that problem.

    I agree with the HD recommendation and the 1080p. But 1080i is the current broadcast mode and you probably won't notice the difference. If you live in a city with good over the air reception, the HD is a good choice; your HD set will handle it without a box. In any event HD is the coming thing, so anything else will be obsolete as soon as you buy it.

    Go to a discount house or warehouse store if you can. Wal-Mart might not be the best choice because of their brand selections. Fry's, Best Buy, Circuit City or Costco would be the places, unless you have a wheeler dealer discount house that you can stomach.

  7. #7
    Here's my advice: Go buy yourself a Sharp Aquos LCD. Two years ago when I bought my new home entertainment system, I did extensive research for about two months, including reading the AV forums, visiting stores to compare the actual displays, and talking to friends in the business. I ended up buying what was then regarded as the best set on the market--the 45" Sharp Aquos, for which I paid $7K. The current 46" model with 1080p capacity now sells for about $2500; but accordng to the Best Buy ad in today's newspaper, you can buy it tomorrow at the "Black Friday" sale price of only $1299--which is less than I paid for a 32" model that I bought our son a year ago.

    Plusses: In addition to being lighter in weight and having a longer life that plasmas, the LCD does not have a glass screen, so it doesn't reflect glare from lamps, sunlight, etc. The Aquos not only has a beautiful high-definition display with sharp contrast and very good black levels, but more than others it also seems to have an excellent picture for standard definition telecasts. (I like to watch old movies on TCM, and old games on ESPN Classic, and CNN, none of which are yet available in HD.) Check it out.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    New York City
    I think you will be completely happy with a 780p set. The difference between HDTV on a 780p set and conventional definition TV is, to steal from Mark Twain, the difference between lightening and a lightening bug. The difference between 780p and 1080p is noticeable, particularly on large sets, but for <$1,000 a 1080p set won't be large at all. And there is very little content available in true 1080p. Unless you have a BluRay or HD-DVD player or have a particularly forward-thinking cable provider, all the content you view now will be in 780p.

    If I were you I would get the biggest 780p set that fits your room, and if you have money left over put it towards a home-theater-in-a-box. Because as soon as you get used to High-Def, the next thing you will be thinking of is better sound.

    Consumer Reports has their annual survey of HDTV sets up: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...ew/hdtv-ov.htm
    Worth subscribing to read the whole thing.
    Last edited by BluBones; 11-23-2007 at 05:04 PM. Reason: Removed snarkiness

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!

    Today's sales

    BJ's has the 37" Vizio for only $600 today, $150 off from the regular BJ's, Sam's and Costco price. Heckuva deal. And it looks like you can order online.
    http://shop.bjs.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=14244186

    Also, I've seen several ads for 42" models today for under $800. Of course, you probably had to be in the store at 5 a.m. this morning to get one, which means you missed them.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Back in the dirty Jerz

    Dlp?

    We just bought a Samsung DLP. At the size we were looking at, DLP is much cheaper than LCD or Plasma for the same screen size. There are a few trade-offs... DLP's aren't thin enough to hang (in fact some are a bit bulky, the Samsungs are great, my 61" TV is only 14" deep). Then again, if you want to hang an LCD or Plasma, then you're gonna have to run the cabling through the walls if you don't want cables dangling. Plus if your room is real small, you might prefer the thinness of the LCD or Plasma flat panel.

    So if you're on a budget, and you have a large room, then DLP might be a cost-effective way for you to get a big screen HD for a grand. (I know there's a Toshiba 50" DLP 720p you can get for around a grand).

    I'm also a big proponent of the DLP screen - it always seemed to me that you can see the pixels on an LCD or Plasma easier. I like the look of the DLP (go check em out at your local electronics store to check out what you prefer).

    There are also tradeoffs with the maintenance for either - LCDs are prone to dead-pixels and Plasmas are prone to burn-in and with DLPs (and other rear-projection tvs) you will likely have the bulb die on you within a few years and will require replacement.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim3k View Post
    This is seriously wrong. The LCD's are much lighter than the plasmas. They are also less expensive generally.
    my bad. must've confused them with dlp, or have lcd sets come down in weight the past two years?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Assuming that this isn't too late, if you have the space and are only interested in 30-36" a hd tube set is the best. Much better blacks and whites than either plasma or LCDs, both of which have made great strides but still fall short in the contrast department compared to the old tubes; this is a significant picture quality difference in favor of tubes. Tubes are huge back to front; they are much less expensive than LCDs or at least used to be.

    Other important, important thing to look for; you need two HDTI inputs in any TV you buy. You want the TV to perform, the type of connectors are significant. HDTI cables are vastly superior to the next best; much more expensive too. About $100-150 for each. You'll want one for your cable (dish) box connection and one for your dvd connection, especially if you go the LCD route. If the set you buy has only one HDTI input, and many lower end sets by all manufacturers (including Sony) only have one (at least as of wo or three years ago), you will either have to sacrifice on DVD quality or buy a diverter that will make up the difference between entry level and mid level, at least in the Sony line.

    Don't listen to what sales people tell you. If you go Sony, there is a significant picture quality difference between entry and mid level LCD sets. Some sales people at a very reputable DC chain didn't know what they were talking about or were psuhing lower end because of a bigger profit margin) The bigger you go the more the differences make.

    The advice as to brands here is spot on.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Southern Pines, NC
    Do you mean HDMI? My Olevia came with an HDMI cable, but Time Warner tells me that they have not yet programmed their Scientific Atlanta HD box for HDMI.

    About tube type HDTVs -- most places I have been to carry only flat panel. HHGregg in Fayetteville had a few small crt sets, 15" maybe, but nobody was even looking at them.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jarhead View Post
    Do you mean HDMI? My Olevia came with an HDMI cable, but Time Warner tells me that they have not yet programmed their Scientific Atlanta HD box for HDMI.

    About tube type HDTVs -- most places I have been to carry only flat panel. HHGregg in Fayetteville had a few small crt sets, 15" maybe, but nobody was even looking at them.
    Yeah, HDMI. Last I looked, which was last year, Best Buy still carried them. Samsung made 26 and 34 inch sets that were well made and priced. I think that Sony might make a 34 inch. You will find that all reviews of sets will say the best picture available is on tubes. Most people want larger sets and many specialty places no longer carry any tube sets.

    I have a 60 inch Sony mid range LCD and an old XBR 32 inch HDTV tube set in the old 5 by 4 format. I watch the latter more often; course, that is where my favorite, 20 year old coach is and my teenage kids ain't.

    Purchased my 60 from a very high end shop which had to special order it--they sell mostly front projection theater systems. They calibrated the color settings to make the picture more realistic. HDTV becomes less "sharp" but the textures that one finds in a movie theater but become "homogenized" in factory settings come through. A matter of taste. Most places don't have the techs to perform; if they do, the charge is usually $500. I paid full price for the set, calibration included. Is it better? You got me. Ditto for the cable, only my guy told me they matter so I did it.

    For those in the DC area, J&S Audio on St. Elmo in Bethesda. Denyze is the guy to speak to. You blink and you miss the storefront, and would not tell from the window that they are high, high end video and audio. Interesting place.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Quote Originally Posted by greybeard View Post

    Purchased my 60 from a very high end shop which had to special order it--they sell mostly front projection theater systems. They calibrated the color settings to make the picture more realistic. HDTV becomes less "sharp" but the textures that one finds in a movie theater but become "homogenized" in factory settings come through. A matter of taste. Most places don't have the techs to perform; if they do, the charge is usually $500. I paid full price for the set, calibration included. Is it better? You got me. Ditto for the cable, only my guy told me they matter so I did it.
    having someone calibrate your tv was probably a smart move, if they did it right. sounds like they know what they're doing. tvs now ship with the settings out of whack, so they will catch the eye in a store more-so than being accurate.

    cables can be another story depending on the length of run and amount of rf floating around. same for hooking it up to a power filter.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jarhead View Post
    Do you mean HDMI? My Olevia came with an HDMI cable, but Time Warner tells me that they have not yet programmed their Scientific Atlanta HD box for HDMI.

    About tube type HDTVs -- most places I have been to carry only flat panel. HHGregg in Fayetteville had a few small crt sets, 15" maybe, but nobody was even looking at them.
    The proverbial "they" sell cables that have "S video" inputs to connect to your caboe box and HDMI to plug into the TV. That is what I've used. Speak to Willywoody as to efficacy. You will want to locate your box and dvd next to your TV if you go the HDMI route. The prices I mentioned were for 1 meter cables. If you have inwall shelving for those sort of toys, including surround sound, distant from the TV itself, well, between two lengthy HDMI cables and two lengthy digital sound cables, we can be talking some real money.

    If you are doing surround sound, I'd get a receiver with some real musicality to it. I chose an NAD, known for its head room (sort of like a BMW with its easy ability to go from highs to lows and back again with ease) but generally devoid of many of the bells and whistles. We're talking $800 to $1000, which puts you in the acceptible but unexceptional range of mid-level quality.

    Someday, my two teenagers will both be off at school and me and the wife will catch a movie on it. I'll let you know how it works then, should we all live and be well. Later.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Southern Pines, NC
    Just so you know, the HDMI cable that came with my HDTV is six feet long and it was free. The four foot digital cable that came with the TW box, free also, is like a huge coiled spring behind my equipment. Surround sound will come with the next HDTV we get, maybe in a day or so, if I can find what I want, but the surround part is not a high priority. My Bose speakers and Pioneer receiver will have to do.

  18. #18

    Panasonic 720

    I would recommend the Panasonic plasma 720. The 1080 in theory gives a better picture but only if you have BluRay or HDDVD will you get a better picture. And the 750 is about half the price of the 1080. This is not just my recommendation this is also the recommendation of Consumer Reports which rated this Panasonic 750 42 inch a "best buy".

    Also keep in mind that ABC, Fox, and ESPN are all broadcast in 720 and have no plans in the future about changing this. In fact a 720 picture may be superior to your 1080 set (set at 1080) picture when watching say the Steelers beat up the Dolphins on Monday Night Football. In fact the 1080 set will not deliver a better picture the vast majority (all?) of "high definition" shows broadcast on Direct TV.

    If you have a thousand extra dollars to burn and or are a movie head and have nice home theater set up with BluRay or HDDVD than go 1080. If you are budget conscious and want a great picture and or watch sports and or do most of your TV viewing by satellite or cable go with the 720. At Best Buy a 42 inch was $1200 vs $2000 that is quite a difference.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Southern Pines, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by tecumseh View Post
    I would recommend the Panasonic plasma 720. The 1080 in theory gives a better picture but only if you have BluRay or HDDVD will you get a better picture. And the 750 is about half the price of the 1080. This is not just my recommendation this is also the recommendation of Consumer Reports which rated this Panasonic 750 42 inch a "best buy".

    Also keep in mind that ABC, Fox, and ESPN are all broadcast in 720 and have no plans in the future about changing this. In fact a 720 picture may be superior to your 1080 set (set at 1080) picture when watching say the Steelers beat up the Dolphins on Monday Night Football. In fact the 1080 set will not deliver a better picture the vast majority (all?) of "high definition" shows broadcast on Direct TV.

    If you have a thousand extra dollars to burn and or are a movie head and have nice home theater set up with BluRay or HDDVD than go 1080. If you are budget conscious and want a great picture and or watch sports and or do most of your TV viewing by satellite or cable go with the 720. At Best Buy a 42 inch was $1200 vs $2000 that is quite a difference.
    First, you need to be specific. Is it 1080I (interlaced) or 1080P(progressive)? In theory the 1080P would have the best picture, but too many other factors weigh in. It is hard to compare, but maybe this will help. (Scroll down to the third paragraph from the bottom for a note about HDMI). Also, 1080P is not transmitted by anybody at this point. Throwing in Blu-Ray or HDDVD into the mix adds nothing. They are simply the formats for disc players or game stations. They simply cannot give a better picture than your TV can display, but their output is 1080P.

    Back to the display, we are sort of at the point when Betamax VCRs were the standard, and VHS was on the horizon. 1080P is the format of the future. Yeah, but so is the hydrogen automobile. If you can find a better price on a 1080I over a 720, that's a pretty good deal, but both will be around for a while. My HDTV is an Olevia. It has a terrific display, native 720P I think, but it can be set for 1080I if you can figure out how to do it. Maybe the best price you'll find is the Olevia, and it was a CR best buy a couple of months ago.

    In the HHGregg store in Fayetteville a week or so ago, against one wall they had an array of maybe a dozen 42" LCD sets all showing the same material. The clear standout was the Sony at about $1,700 plus or minus. On the opposite wall was an assorted array of a few larger Plasma sets and a few DLP projection sets. None of them could match that Sony. The DLP had good displays, but the viewing angle was rather narrow. The Plasma also had good displays, but I noticed my own clear reflection in the screen. It was a good reflection, though. I'd say thumbs down on Plasma and DLP.

  20. #20
    Speaking of HD DVD's, I'm hoping this Tuesday's Wisconsin game marks the first time of the season Duke is finally broadcast in HD. I bought my Sony KDS-2010 back in April in time to see the Final Four, but have been patiently waiting for a chance to see Duke in HD. So far, none of their games have been broadcast in HD.
    "There can BE only one."

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