Buying an HDTV

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Okay, so I used to know something about HDTV's, even knew the good brands, the trends, the tech, but that was about a year and a half ago. Back then, unfortunately, actually dropping the cash on an HDTV was way beyond my means.

But now, I have around $800 just screaming to replace that tiny decades-old tube TV in my living room.

Unfortunately, I'm complete out of the loop on which TV's are good TV's.


So here is my situation:

I really want 42". Bigger is better, obviously, 54", 60", oh I would cream my pants for the biggest screen possible, but I assume they would be well out of my league price-wise? But I'm a movie nut, so I do need at least that 42" to enjoy my flicks in comfort.

I don't care about the technology. I want good picture quality, obviously, but when it comes to the type of television, what's most important is that I'm not spending hundreds of dollars to maintain the thing. I'm cheap. I want a TV I can buy, and then just have, for decades, like my last TV. No replacing bulbs or tubes or power supplies or any of that crap.

I only have like $800. I wouldn't mind getting a great deal and saving some cash, even.



So what TV's are in my range?
 
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I'm sure the others can post some good T.V.'s for your price point, but I have to bring up craigslist. I've seen some great deals on HDTVs there that I would have gladly went for if I had the budget. Browse your local electronics section and see if you can't find something nice.
 
Wait until Black Friday to spend your money. I bought my 37" Olevia 1080i at Target on BF for $500 and am kicking myself for not buying 2. If you are looking to splurge, I suggest the Sony Bravia 42". If you are looking to get a cheap, but good HDTV, then I suggest a Vizio.
 
For $800 I cant say you are going to get a tv that will last "decades"

Your best bet would be to go for a CRT. They are more stable than a lcd in that price range.

If your set on a LCD check out "vizios" alot of people have had good things to say about them so check them out.

If you really want to learn go to :www.avsforum.com
If I was going to buy a tv, i would want to research on my own instead of just going on the word of some guy in a forum. Be a smart shopper and learn for yourself. That will get you the farthest in choosing the best TV for you.
 
Your best bet would b e to get a LCD as it requires little maintenance as far as HDTVs go. All you have to do is just wipe down the screen if it gets too dusty at some point. DLPs requires changing the bulb every 3 years or so and costs hundreds and plasmas lose their vibrant colors over time. You may face dead pixels with LCDs but its not a huge problem to fret about. I would advise waiting for black Friday for a very affordable TV (the brands Sony and Samsung come to mind as the top brands on the market) and purchasing an extended warranty with the money you save.
 
[quote name='muhsheesuh']DLPs requires changing the bulb every 3 years or so and costs hundreds.[/QUOTE]

(*) The 750 series Samsung DLPs are LED based with no bulb to replace.
 
There's no reason to get a CRT with $800. You can still at least get a solid LCD/plasma. I recently got a 42 inch panasonic plasma for roughly $800, and it's awesome. I would recommend looking for something that is 720p. 720p TVs still look great and they're way cheaper than 1080p TVs.
 
[quote name='Battousai1002']There's no reason to get a CRT with $800. You can still at least get a solid LCD/plasma. I recently got a 42 inch panasonic plasma for roughly $800, and it's awesome. I would recommend looking for something that is 720p. 720p TVs still look great and they're way cheaper than 1080p TVs.[/quote]


I'd go for that 50" Sanyo at Walmart for $900.

But i'm a bit reluctant to buy a set that big at only 720p. I have a 32" 720 now and it looks amazing. I'd prefer to wait and future proof yourself.

If you must have one now though try to wait until Black Friday but a lot of the major brand names will cut there prices around Super Bowl time. It always happens, i've also heard Circuit City has killer deals on open box items now.
 
[quote name='klwillis45']http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/458705780/samsung-hl50a650[/QUOTE]

Hold your horses before you pull the trigger, that item is a clearanced open-box, returned item and is also DLP that is NOT powered by LED. This means that the life of the bulb has already been reduced and that it WILL require you to change it for a couple hundred bucks, easily outweighing the money you save buying it at this price.
 
I know there are opponents of Slickdeals on these forums, but in all honesty, most forum users here scour Fatwallet, Slickdeals and Cheapassgamer. Or they will eventually.

That being said, if you stay in the loop and montior Slickdeals' hot deals forum for about a week, you'll see that you can get a very quality television for your $800 budget. For example, I got in on a deal last month where I purchased a 50" Samsung plasma for about $630 after tax.

As for LCD and plasma, since you're already somewhat familiar with the different available television technologies, I probably don't have to tell you that both have their ups and downs. Plasmas beat LCDS in terms of color replication and better blacks, but tend to run hot and you still have to be mindful of image retention within the first several hundred hours. Some people will tell you that it's not an issue with modern plasmas, but I can tell you after owning a 2008 model that it still can be - but shouldn't deter you from plasma if you're willing to do the work.

That said, the three S's (Sharp, Samsung, Sony) are safe bets for LCDs, and they've really made stunning improvements in the black level department.

One thing I will leave you with: Don't buy into the 720P/1080P superiority issue unless you're sitting super close to your TV (for your size range of 42"), you watch lots of Blu-ray or you want to use it as a computer monitor.
 
I run a 720p projector at 110"...I'll put it up against a 1080p Set or Projector any day of the week....unless you are using a computer, the move from 720p to 1080p...about 1 million total pixels...really isn't THAT impressive.

Its a marginal jump...things look "a little bit" sharper, but its not like you can suddenly count the leaves on a tree 300 feet down the road in some HDTV show or anything like that.

If it were my money, and I wanted to do mostly gaming and stuff on it...I'd go with a 720p set that was bigger over a 1080p set that was smaller any day of the week.

Anyone who tries to convince you that 1080p is "so much sharper" than 720p is feeding you horse-shit, or marketing materials. They read something online and suddenly believe the hype.

The only time I'd consider goign 1080p over 720p...smaller sized set for the same money..is if you were going to be sitting REALLY close to the display. Because then, a 720p image can become distracting IF you can see the pixel structure (screendoor).....but even on a 50" set, that disappears after like 5 or 6 feet.
 
[quote name='jaso']I know there are opponents of Slickdeals on these forums, but in all honesty, most forum users here scour Fatwallet, Slickdeals and Cheapassgamer. Or they will eventually.

That being said, if you stay in the loop and montior Slickdeals' hot deals forum for about a week, you'll see that you can get a very quality television for your $800 budget. For example, I got in on a deal last month where I purchased a 50" Samsung plasma for about $630 after tax.

As for LCD and plasma, since you're already somewhat familiar with the different available television technologies, I probably don't have to tell you that both have their ups and downs. Plasmas beat LCDS in terms of color replication and better blacks, but tend to run hot and you still have to be mindful of image retention within the first several hundred hours. Some people will tell you that it's not an issue with modern plasmas, but I can tell you after owning a 2008 model that it still can be - but shouldn't deter you from plasma if you're willing to do the work.

That said, the three S's (Sharp, Samsung, Sony) are safe bets for LCDs, and they've really made stunning improvements in the black level department.

One thing I will leave you with: Don't buy into the 720P/1080P superiority issue unless you're sitting super close to your TV (for your size range of 42"), you watch lots of Blu-ray or you want to use it as a computer monitor.[/QUOTE]

If you don't mind me asking where'd you get this 50" plasma deal from?

Moreover, for those aware of Black Friday deals last year, were there HDTV deals online instead of having to venture to a brick and mortar? I'm hoping I could order a high quality, low priced HDTV from the comfort of my own home instead of having to deal with everybody and their camping chairs.
 
[quote name='strayfoxx']If you don't mind me asking where'd you get this 50" plasma deal from?

Moreover, for those aware of Black Friday deals last year, were there HDTV deals online instead of having to venture to a brick and mortar? I'm hoping I could order a high quality, low priced HDTV from the comfort of my own home instead of having to deal with everybody and their camping chairs.[/quote]

Not at all.

There was a (now famous) bundle deal where, if you added a particular home theater to your cart along with a particular 50-inch plasma (which was on sale for $1000), the computer would charge you $400 for the home theater and $600 for the television. It wasn't a glitch, Best Buy's system just wasn't programmed to handle it properly. So, people were able to order the bundle online for in-store pick-up and only pick up the TV for $600. At Best Buy, if you fail to pick something up, after about 8 days they put it back on their shelf and refund you the purchase price, which was $400.

In a nutshell, deals like this come along every few months for the dedicated who are willing to check Slickdeals a few times a day (because sometimes the window of opportunity is small). I've been seeing a lot of competitive deals lately, namely a sub-$800 42" Panasonic 1080P plasma from Circuit City that I would have jumped on had I not gotten in on my 50" Sammy plasma (which looks AWESOME with my $75 upconverting Philips refurb home theater system - another Slickdeal I got in on).

FWIW, I did my research and price comparisons for about a year before biting on the television I got. OP, if you want any advice or any suggestions, feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to help you out.
 
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