[quote name='yuy104']Hi!
I'm interested in getting a 23" or 26" Flat Panel LCD HD (ready) TV monitor with an under $1,000 budget. Since there are so many brands and features out there, I'm really not sure which brands are good for that size. I'm looking for a brand that delivers decent & clear picture and audio quality within my budget. Any help is greatly appreciated! Has anyone have any experiences with LCD TVs that's that size?
Thanks!!![/QUOTE]
I just purchased the Viewsonic n2750w about three weeks ago.
Here's a link :
http://viewsonic.com/products/tventertainment/lcdtv/n2750w/index.htm
Right now if you buy at certain retailers (I got mine at Good Guys) you get $100 mail in rebate. So that made it $899 for me, but you might find it a tad cheaper if you shop around more than I did. I went with Good Guys because they gave me 24 months no interest.
I'll throw up some Pros and Cons for you :
Pro :
1) Good response time. 16ms. Anything slower than that and you'll get a lot of ghosting. As it is, the ONLY time I've noticed ghosting (I repeat, the ONLY TIME) is when I'm watching ESPN and see the white letters at the bottom of the screen on their ticker scrolling. I have a PS2 and Xbox and haven't noticed ghosting from a game on either system.
2) Good black levels. Of course, an LCD will never match a CRT or Plasma in black levels, but this particular LCD does black fairly well compared to others in the sub-$1,000 price range.
3) Black TV, speakers bottom mounted. Some "cheap" LCDs look like shit. This TV looks really good. The casing is strong, the feet are heavy metal, and the speakers being mounted on the bottom instead of the sides make the TV look a tad bigger but also better, in my opinion.
4) DVI input. Has HDCP copyright protection so no need to worry about incompatability.
5) 1:1 resolution when using DVI. I've read that 1:1 resolution is very important if you plan on using this thing as a computer monitor. I don't, so I can't give you an opinion, but its definitely a plus to know I can use it as a giant LCD monitor if I ever wanted to.
6) Decent sound. I run all my sound through a surround receiver, so I don't use the TV speakers much, but from testing I've noticed the sound is pretty good. Not top of the line, but definitely better than the Syntax Olevia and the Westinghouse 27 inch model.
7) Excellent overall picture. I know each LCD is different, but mine had NO dead pixels and the picture looks fantastic, especially for 720p and 1080i TV/games.
8) Picture in picture, picture by picture. I don't use this feature, but its cool to know I could surf the internet in one window and watch the NBA finals in another window if I wanted to.
9) 35 pounds and something like 4 inches thick.
Cons :
1) Lack of inputs. Yeah, it has DVI, but only one component input that does HD. The other component input won't do any type of HD stuff, and it only has 1 s-video and 1 composite input. Kinda weak. I would've liked at least 2 HD component inputs.
2) Cannot change aspect ratio without going into the actual menu of the TV. Not a BIG deal, but sort of a pain in the ass if you want to go from 4:3 to 16:9. There's not a button on the remote that automatically does this.
3) Inputs mounted weird. The DVI, computer monitor input, and component HD are mounted behind the TV on the bottom. But the regular component, s-video, and composite are mounted on the back but on the side. Its weird, and doesn't make much sense.
4) Fairly expensive. Compared to other 27 inch TVs with comparable features, even with the $100 mail in rebate, this is about $100 more. I guess you're paying for the "Viewsonic name"? But that's part of the reason I bought it. Viewsonics have always been pretty high on the quality scale for computer monitors, and I figured that's all an LCD TV really is, a giant computer monitor.
So, that's about as detailed a description as I can give. I'm VERY happy with the purchase and wish I would've done it 6 months ago. I honestly don't know how I lived without a kickass LCD HDTV before. So even if you don't get this Viewsonic model I have, you definitely should get an LCD TV - totally worth it.
