HDTV for under $300

I'm also in the market for an inexpensive, decent quality HDTV and the Philips Outlet keeps cropping up. Unfortunately, all the research I've done has yielded nothing but horror stories about the reputation of Philips' refurbed TVs and the poor experiences with trying to get their TVs serviced. Of course, anything that cheap is worth a look, but be sure to check around before you make your final decision, especially if it's from the Philips Outlet.

Aaron
 
I purchased this TV from the Philips Outlet about a year and 2 months ago. It arrived with a horizontal line about 1/3 of the way down the screen (when powered on, not on the glass or anything). I had heard the same reviews and was about to kick myself for making such a dumb purchase, but I called Philips and they put me in touch with an on-site-in-town repair service who came out (for free) and took a look at the TV. They weren't exactly sure what the problem was they kept coming back to my place to try new things until eventually everything was fixed. EDIT** - all at no cost to me.

I've heard reports from people who say they love the TV and it works perfectly, and I've heard some bad reports about Philips and this TV. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I love the TV now (although the 480p CVI channel seems to have some 'bending' in the corners), but it took a little work to get there. For the amount I saved, though....totally worth it!
 
I have almost the same one, except I have the one that does 720p. I got it as a display model at Walmart for $250. It has a few minor quibbles but was well worth the price. They also sold me the 2 year warranty for the same price as a new model so if anything goes wrong it should be taken care of.
 
[quote name='haircut']Watch out, aren't there problems with the PS3 scaling to 1080i?[/quote]

yeah, if you're wanting it to use with the PS3, make sure it can do 720p, otherwise games like Resistance will play in 4:3 480p.

On a related note, if you live in Oregon, I have a 30" Widescreen 480p, 1080i Panasonic HDTV for sale for $399! Check my trade list for further details!
 
thanks for all the responses guys, and im not really educated about hdtvs so im not sure which one is good for ps3 and 360. i also have a wii but thats not hd capable, so ill continue to look
 
[quote name='Indiana']Does the Philips 30PW9110D/37 tv do 720P? Philips claims that it does but I'm a skeptic.[/QUOTE]

No CRT widely sold today really can do 480P or 720P since the display is inherently interlaced. However, most newer hd CRTs have a scaler that will take 480p to 480i and 720p to 1080i so that the tv is able to display it correctly. My samsung hd CRT has no problems displaying 720p from either a direct source or broadcast tv (ABC, ESPN, and some others broadcast in 720p).
 
[quote name='Indiana']Does the Philips 30PW9110D/37 tv do 720P? Philips claims that it does but I'm a skeptic.[/QUOTE]
It will scale it internally to 1080i. A few of the other Philips TV's don't do that.
 
If you're going to get a nice HDTV why not shoot for at least 36"? I bought a 42" that looked huge the first week, but now I feel like its just right.
 
[quote name='Joystick76']I'm just looking for a nice small one to put in my room to replace my 20'' DVD combo drive shit TV :lol:[/QUOTE]

Stick with the Olevia then - if you have a Microcenter near you, they stock this too and often have it on sale for a good price.

The Phillips may be the cheapest you'll get and a decent set but as with any CRT, it's going to be heavy and a real pain to move it around.
 
I'm in Iowa, we don't have jack crap around here :lol: haha.

I was hoping for a pricematch from CC to Best Buy or something. The nearest CC is 50 miles away.
 
Why does that compusa tv have to be sold out everywhere around me. I too am looking for an hdtv at a good price and that wouldve been perfect.
 
I was going to make another thread but thought since my question is almost similar to this one I figured someone might be able to help me...

Anyways I am looking to buy a 42' Plasma or LCD for my room and I am willing to spend up to $1,500.

I would also rather buy from Best Buy right now since they have 18 months of no interest......So if anyone could help me find the best tv for the money that would be great...

Btw the one thing I really want the tv to have is pc input :)
 
My advice would be to keep going to wal-mart every week. They will eventually have a newer model and the older models will get a nice big price cut because they dont want them out w/ the new 1s. especially if it's a display model.

I got 1 about 1/2 the price and it's worked great to this day. plus wal-mart has the cheapest extended warranties nowadays.

also if youre a member of any warehouse stores (Costco, Sams Club, BJs, etc..) keep checking there too. sometimes theyll get shipments of old models & they have nice price cuts on display models too.

a Tube is going to be heavy, but you get the best picture/$. but you still may be able to find a good deal on a LCD at $300 if you look hard enough.

Most LCDs also use the same panels. so if one has a picture that looks ugly, ask for the remote and see if a little tweaking fixes it. sometimes the salespeople are told to intentionally make the less expensive models look worse.
 
[quote name='rickc25']No CRT widely sold today really can do 480P or 720P since the display is inherently interlaced. However, most newer hd CRTs have a scaler that will take 480p to 480i and 720p to 1080i so that the tv is able to display it correctly. My samsung hd CRT has no problems displaying 720p from either a direct source or broadcast tv (ABC, ESPN, and some others broadcast in 720p).[/QUOTE]

It must be able to do progressive scan as the PDF on the website says progressive scan but it fails to mention the resolution. I just have a feeling that it does 480i, 480p, 1080i. I wrote the CSR and they claim it does 720P as well but I find this hard to believe. If it's true $449 for a 30" system may be a heck of a deal.
 
For god's sake don't get a tube HDTV. You save more but those things are HUGE and HEAVY! If you are buying a new TV why go with old technology. Save a little more and up your budget to $400, then get a westinghouse , viewsonic or visio 27"-32". Trust me, you want be sorry. Plus you can use these as your computer monitor as well.
 
[quote name='un_plug']For god's sake don't get a tube HDTV. You save more but those things are HUGE and HEAVY! If you are buying a new TV why go with old technology. Save a little more and up your budget to $400, then get a westinghouse , viewsonic or visio 27"-32". Trust me, you want be sorry. Plus you can use these as your computer monitor as well.[/quote] Eh, don't those cheap brands have poor back levels?



[quote name='propeller_head']20" isnt very big. but if you sit close it should be fine. i have this 1 and its very nice

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11098479[/quote]
Not bad, even if it is a 'cheap' brand. Exclusion of an ASTC tuner = :( MAybe it does after checking again...
 
[quote name='SpikeSpiegel']Eh, don't those cheap brands have poor back levels?




Not bad, even if it is a 'cheap' brand. Exclusion of an ASTC tuner = :( MAybe it does after checking again...[/quote]
no all the LCDs in the brands your dubbing cheap are made in the same factories as the ones in what you wouldnt, like sony or samsung.

MPEG-2 has shitty black levels. VC-1 doesnt. what the movie's encoded in makes most of the difference.
games should look the same regardless.
 
[quote name='Indiana']It must be able to do progressive scan as the PDF on the website says progressive scan but it fails to mention the resolution. I just have a feeling that it does 480i, 480p, 1080i. I wrote the CSR and they claim it does 720P as well but I find this hard to believe. If it's true $449 for a 30" system may be a heck of a deal.[/QUOTE]
I have one of the Phillips. It's a fantastic TV. It will accept 720p signals and upconvert them to 1080i. It doesn't looks as good as the native 1080i signals, but it looks a lot better than 4:3 480p.

Also, to the dude who was looking at at getting a plasma or LCD 42", I would stay away from plasma as they are prone to burn-ins.
 
If you want something for gaming...then just get an LCD Monitor. They're significantly cheaper. Newegg has some good stuff.

200-300 LCD Monitors. Pick your poison. All are widescreen.

However, I have no Idea if the PS3 supports VGA or not, but none between 200 and 300 have HDMI. If you want HDMI then you're going to have to go atleast 60-70 dollars over. Which would get you to the price of the 20 inch Vizio HDTV that supports HDMI. I dunno man.

EDIT: Ok, so the PS3 can connect to monitors via either an HDMI port or an HDMI to DVI chord. However the monitor must be HDCP compliant.

EDIT: Can also be HDMI to VGA...but they all have to be HDCP compliant. I don't even know how to find out if a monitor is or not.
 
[quote name='Punk_Raven']If you want something for gaming...then just get an LCD Monitor. They're significantly cheaper. Newegg has some good stuff.

200-300 LCD Monitors. Pick your poison. All are widescreen.

However, I have no Idea if the PS3 supports VGA or not, but none between 200 and 300 have HDMI. If you want HDMI then you're going to have to go atleast 60-70 dollars over. Which would get you to the price of the 20 inch Vizio HDTV that supports HDMI. I dunno man.

EDIT: Ok, so the PS3 can connect to monitors via either an HDMI port or an HDMI to DVI chord. However the monitor must be HDCP compliant.

EDIT: Can also be HDMI to VGA...but they all have to be HDCP compliant. I don't even know how to find out if a monitor is or not.[/QUOTE]

The one negative I can say about using a PC monitor is that there is no scaler built into the screen. You need to make sure you find a 720P LCD so that it looks right for the 360.
 
Well then that or the LCD monitor would be great for me since I need both a new monitor and an HD TV ( doens't have to be HD-Ready). :D

Too bad that'd take quite a bit away from my 360 fund :(
 
[quote name='Punk_Raven']what's better, a big standard def TV or a small hDTV ?[/QUOTE]

Small HDTV. A big standard def TV will make stuff look like shit because everything is blurry at that resolution... even at a smaller size, a high def TV will look miles better simply because everything will be crisp. Trust me, you'll be much happier with a smaller HDTV.
 
Tigerdirect.com has crazy good deals. THere's a 400 dollar 26 inch HDTV there....only problem is that it doens't have HDMI. They also have good sets between 500-600. I say try to raise your budget a little or get an LCD monitor.

And at that point you can get a refurb 42 inch samsung DLP for 750 bucks.
 
[quote name='Indiana']The one negative I can say about using a PC monitor is that there is no scaler built into the screen. You need to make sure you find a 720P LCD so that it looks right for the 360.[/quote] actually the scaler chip (ANA) in the 360 is pretty good. it will scale to a bunch of different resolutions.

640x480 VGA
848x480 Widescreen 480
1024x768 XGA
1280x720 720p
1280x768 WXGA *
1280x1024 SXGA
1360x768 WXGA *
1920x1080 1080p
 
[quote name='Punk_Raven']
EDIT: Ok, so the PS3 can connect to monitors via either an HDMI port or an HDMI to DVI chord. However the monitor must be HDCP compliant.

EDIT: Can also be HDMI to VGA...but they all have to be HDCP compliant. I don't even know how to find out if a monitor is or not.[/QUOTE]

AFAIK you don't need HDCP for anything unless that starts getting turned on as a requirement for Blu Ray movies. Even then it'll just artificially downscale to 480p.

In theory the PS3 should work on a widescreen monitor that has a DVI port using an HDMI -> DVI cable, but so far I've heard of NO ONE who's actually done it for some reason (I thought for sure SOMEONE would have reported on it by now).

It would almost have to be widescreen as I don't think the PS3 is going to letterbox stuff like some 360 games do. Though I guess theoretically almost every 4:3 monitor should work with the PS3 at 480p with an HDMI -> DVI cable.
 
well cheif i got some news for ya, stay away from westinghouse at ALL costs same for RCA they are poop , and you can get crt's that run 720 example hitachi 57f59 , and you also dont want a plasma... basiclly you should save a little money and get the 51" hitachi crt hdtv that runs 480i/ 480p/ 720p / 1080i it works i got a 61" hdtv and a 51" resistance looks good on both
 
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