Best GAMING HDTV for 300$?

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shniernan

CAG Veteran
Hello, folks. I would like to start off this by announcing that I have joined these forums specifically for THIS question, as I have witnessed extensive help on the topic before. The topic being: Where in the world can I get a "cheapass" gaming tv? This will be used SOLELY for the use of Xbox360 and PSP functions. I will probably not have cable hooked up to it in the near future (2 years) if at all. Meaning, I would like the capabilities of the T.V. to be more geared towards gaming reactions and image processing and other such gaming things a T.V. would need. This really isn't my strong point. :cry:

Anyways, I would like an HDTV, 780p (1080 just seems overkill on such a small T.V.), AT LEAST 22 inch (Preferred 26, DOUBLE PREFERRED 32 inch, ideally it really should be 32. It will be in a 14' by 11' room, and I need to be able to see it.), and geared towards gaming really... My budget is in the 300$ range. I think my best bet right now is the Toshiba 32 inch, which I would link, but I'm a new user.

If I missed any information, if you have any questions, I will be glad to reply. Thank you for any/all advice! Remember, the cake is a lie! I love you people. :D
 
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I concur on the monitor thing. I'm using an Acer 21.5" monitor that I got from Target on clearance for $40 and it's served my purpose very well over the last year or so.

It's full 1080p and while the internal speakers are a bit tinny they work well enough for my intended use.;)
 
I would like to reply to you guys firstly stating that I am not AT ALL ruling monitors out of the equation, and I did look at monitors after you suggested them. (My favorites are the Samsung 226BW, and the Newegg LG 27")

However, they only LOOSELY fit my requirements. So I had a couple questions. One, why does it need to be 1080p on such a small screen? Two, I mentioned that it should be large, as it would be ON THE WALL in an 11' by 14' room, so I was thinking around 27". I could POSSIBLY make 22" work. But I was pretty surprised to see most of the monitors were 22", do you recommend getting a bigger size? If so, what monitor?

Thank you for your help now, and any further help.
 
It doesn't really need to be 1080p and really unless you're sitting right near the monitor/tv a smaller sized one would likely not make much of a difference versus an SDtv as far as the tiny text many devs seem to be using this gen goes.

Even when sending a PSN message I've found myself having to squint to see what letters I've typed, since the text's font is just entirely too small on the screen.

Unfortunately, once you get over a 23" monitor or so the price may shoot up drastically.

I did find a 27" LG monitor from Overstock.com which is $309.99, but it's a refurb: http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...-LCD-Monitor-Refurbished/4231665/product.html
 
Hello. I just wanted to make a quick comment to see if I could help. I was in my local Walmart in Charlotte, NC and noticed that they had some good deals on smaller TV's. I just wanted to recommend you look at their ~32" TV's. I game on an Emerson 32 720p and it's great. My room is a small bedroom, however. I've had the TV for a couple years and haven't had any issues. I just looked at their website and checked the 32 inch TV's. See the query below:

http://www.walmart.com/browse/TV-Vi...2594439&search_sort=4&selected_items=+&depts=
 
There are a lot of up to 23" and sometimes 27" 1080p lcd monitors, if I were you look for one of those, with hdmi and some buit-in speakers. Roughly, you should be also looking for the fastest response rate, you can find some with 2ms, for example. Things like an led backlight are probably good if the price is right. I picked up an asus vh236h fairly recently, mainly as a computer monitor but console gaming was priority 2, it was about $150, i think there was a deal at newegg recently that was similar.
 
I use a toshiba 32 and love it the box said it only does 720p but when I hooked the 360 up to it with an hdmi cable it gave me 1080p and the other one I would recomend is a vizio to
 
I'm going to go down the list with my responses, starting with @overblood. I'm glad to know the Toshiba works great. If all else fails, it is my plan B, as it is far too expensive for me right now.

@tigerpants - I'll be sure to look out fo rthe response time and backlight. Do I still need good built in speakers if I use my Turtle Beach's? I don't want speakers to be a main attribute, if I'm never going to use them.

@jimmayhorn - I heard the Vizio's, and almost every TV under 400$ was downgraded and stripped at Walmart. It may be untrue, but I think there is truth in even the wildest rumors.

@Techman - It was definitely added to my list, next to Iamthecheapestgamer's.

@IAmTheCheapestGamer - If that was 310$ before, it is 280$ now. I was wondering why you guys liked monitors so much? They're not cheaper. Or bigger? What are the advantages?

Thanks again
-Shniernan
 
you could get a 32 inch vizio at walmart for around 300 dollars and all the revies you get the picture quality and sound the same as a tv that is more expencive
 
[quote name='shniernan']
@jimmayhorn - I heard the Vizio's, and almost every TV under 400$ was downgraded and stripped at Walmart. It may be untrue, but I think there is truth in even the wildest rumors.[/QUOTE]

I don't mean to be rude with this question, but can I ask what you think you're going to get for under $400? For under $400 anywhere, you're going to get an ok, but not great, TV. In the price range you're looking at, you should be looking at "stripped" TVs -- the more bells and whistles that you're getting with your cheap TV, the lower you can almost certainly bet the overall quality will be. At the price range you're looking at, you should be looking for something very basic.

[quote name='shniernan']@tigerpants - I'll be sure to look out fo rthe response time and backlight. Do I still need good built in speakers if I use my Turtle Beach's? I don't want speakers to be a main attribute, if I'm never going to use them.[/QUOTE]

Response time is definitely important when you're looking at gaming, particularly if you plan to game online with others (having a TV with a slow response time would be a significant disadvantage for you against other players with better TVs), so I'd emphasize that as something important to consider.

Honestly, don't even think about LED backlight in your price range. Just don't. You're not going to find it, and even if you did (on clearance or something), low-end LEDs have a lot of problems (clouding, flashlighting, etc.). LED is great if you've got a lot of money to spend, but good LED technology isn't cheap yet and probably won't be for a little while. Right now, at the price range you're looking at, LCD is the way to go.

As far as speakers go, built-in TV speakers tend to suck. Even in higher-end TVs, the built-in speakers suck. If you can do it, external speakers are the way to go. Just make sure that you actually have a way of getting the audio to them.

[quote name='shniernan']@IAmTheCheapestGamer - If that was 310$ before, it is 280$ now. I was wondering why you guys liked monitors so much? They're not cheaper. Or bigger? What are the advantages?[/QUOTE]

He likes his monitor because he got it from Target clearance cheap. :lol:

That being said, the biggest advantage that monitors have is that because they're meant for computers, you're almost certainly going to get at least 1080p capability (of course, unless you're sitting close like you would with a computer, 1080p isn't going to matter on such a small screen). With a monitor, you're not paying for a TV tuner, or often even speakers, or other extras that cost money -- all of your money is going into the screen. So if you don't need that other stuff, you'll probably get at least a somewhat better quality screen, faster response time, etc. with a monitor. Just be aware that you are sacrificing those other features.

One thing to keep in mind with a monitor, though, if you go that route -- make sure that you get one with an HDMI input. If you get one that only has a DVI input, you'll need an HDMI to DVI adapter, and you may run into difficulties with any HDCP-protected content.
 
@arcane93 - I would like to thank you for your help, it really cleared things up. I didn't find your question rude at all, and I was expecting a 27" hd screen with decent quality and no shenanigans. So basically, I wanted a monitor all along and didn't really know it. hahaha...

Thank you also for explaining backlight and response-time. It helped set my priorities straight. And I guess since I will be using headphones, external speakers won't be necessary, or the TV speakers for that matter.

So I guess the only thing left is... You seem to know a lot on the subject and understand my dilemma... What monitor would you suggest for me?

-Thanks again, all.
 
[quote name='jimmayhorn']Hello. I just wanted to make a quick comment to see if I could help. I was in my local Walmart in Charlotte, NC and noticed that they had some good deals on smaller TV's. I just wanted to recommend you look at their ~32" TV's. I game on an Emerson 32 720p and it's great. My room is a small bedroom, however. I've had the TV for a couple years and haven't had any issues. I just looked at their website and checked the 32 inch TV's. See the query below:

http://www.walmart.com/browse/TV-Vi...2594439&search_sort=4&selected_items=+&depts=[/QUOTE]

i do about 90% of my gaming on a 42' vizio (1080p) and the rest on a 32' emerson (720) likely the same exact model as you as i got it from walmart as well. i can vouch for these tv's. ive had mine for 2 years (its my bedroom tv) and i havent had any problems with it at all.
 
amazon.com/Toshiba-32C100U-32-Inch-Black-Gloss/dp/tech-data/B0038JED6M/ref=de_a_smtd

amazon.com/L32HDF11TA-32-Inch-2-Year-Warranty-Black/dp/B003LPUWV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297898304&sr=8-1

I have the one from the second link. TCL 32in. It's a very nice TV for the price but I haven't used it at all yet for gaming. They both have the same specifications as my 2x-priced Sony that I use for gaming, so I would expect it to be good enough.

Read the reviews I'm sure people will address gaming on the TV's you're looking at.
 
I upgraded my 32" Vizio to a 42" LG Plasma, but the Vizio served me well for a long time and I still use it from time to time whenever I game out in the computer room. Using an HDMI cable on it and my PS3 or 360 looked amazing. It's only 720p, but I was always told you don't see a huge difference between 720 and 1080 until at least 46". *shrugs*
 
[quote name='shniernan']So I guess the only thing left is... You seem to know a lot on the subject and understand my dilemma... What monitor would you suggest for me?[/QUOTE]

Sorry for not responding sooner, I've been stuck in ten-hour-a-day meetings without computer access (or even cell phone reception) all week. :bomb:

To be honest, I couldn't really make a specific recommendation on monitors at this point, as it has been several years now since I've bought a monitor, so I have no idea what's out there now. I will say that both my monitor (which is about five years old now) and the TV that I bought last year (46" LN46C750 -- a bit out of your current price range) are Samsung, and I've been pretty happy with both, so I'd recommend them as a brand. LG is a good brand as well (I saw that someone earlier linked an LG model that honestly looked pretty decent).

On the other hand, my girlfriend has a Philips TV, and based on my experience with it, anyway, I couldn't recommend them.

You might want to check Target clearance, as it looks like at least here they're doing a new round of TV clearances. I saw a 32" Samsung for $349.98 tonight that would probably fit your needs perfectly (it was regularly $399.99, so not a huge drop yet, but you may be able to get a pretty good deal soon if they don't sell out too quickly). It would at least be worth stopping by your local store to see what they have.
 
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[quote name='overblood']I use a toshiba 32 and love it the box said it only does 720p but when I hooked the 360 up to it with an hdmi cable it gave me 1080p and the other one I would recomend is a vizio to[/QUOTE]

What's the model number of the Toshiba you got?
 
Sony and Samsung are consistently the best, but at $300 you are better off getting a larger size and slightly lower quality TV. If I remember the last Consumer Reports the Vizio 32" 720p was actually rated third and had very good picture quality and reliability. You should be able to find it for $300+tax at WalMart or Costco. Try to get the one with 4 HDMI inputs if you will be hooking up multiple consoles (there's also a 32" 1080p model but that will be more than $300). The main weakness on the Vizio is the speakers, but if you really want to enjoy 5.1 its going to cost quite a bit more anyway. You could consider a future purchase of the Plantronics headphones that Cheapy and Wombat have recommended in the past (X40).
 
You can easily find 32in 720p plasma for $250. There was a refurb 32in LCD on sellout.woot not just last week. 720p is fine for console gaming as most games only run at that, and you couldn't see 1080p at 32in anyway.
 
[quote name='murphyspub']You can easily find 32in 720p plasma for $250. There was a refurb 32in LCD on sellout.woot not just last week. 720p is fine for console gaming as most games only run at that, and you couldn't see 1080p at 32in anyway.[/QUOTE]

I would strongly hesitate to buy a cheap plasma for gaming. The potential for burn-in is too high. More expensive plasmas contain tech that lowers (but notably doesn't completely eliminate) the chance of burn-in, but (last I looked, anyway) cheaper plasmas don't have much of it. If you do consider a plasma, definitely look into what anti-burn-in features it offers first.
 
Uhmm best gaming HDTV?

Best gaming LCDs are by Panasonic, Sharp, and LG, anything else pretty much sucks for gaming, Samsung and Sonys use VA panels which give you a lot of input lag, making gaming crappy, picture will be pretty good.

I'd say go with plasma, get a low entry 720p Panasonic set, I picked up a 720p Panny Plasma and it's great, minimal lag. Oh yeah, don't listen to t he people talking about IR and burn-in, they have no idea what they're talking about and probably have never owned a plasma, it's just not a issue with Plasma sets today. The only issue with Panasonic Plasmas is the rising blacks, IMO not much of an issue though.

If you'd like to read more, go over to avsforums. But if you're budget is $300 and under, search ebay/craigslist for a Panasonic/LG/Sharp 32' LCD, otherwise just buy a CPU LCD Monitor like one from Asus, the EVO monitor has barely any lag whatsoever.
 
[quote name='Ronzilla']What's the model number of the Toshiba you got?[/QUOTE]I have a 32dt1u model I got it at best buy the week befor christmas for 299 dollars it said is only 720p in the discription but I'm runing my 360 at 1080p on it
 
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