I need an HDTV.

xmxbulletxmx

xmxbulletxmx

CAG Veteran
Hey guys.
i know that there are probably hundreds of threads out there just like this one.

but i have 800 dollars.
and a mission for a nice tv.

the only things im looking for are the normal things.
the largest size and best specs for the price.

also please try to keep in mind.
i have a 360, and i am also getting an HD DVD add on for it as well.

so if possible i would like 1080p.

unless that makes no different given the size.

thanks for all of the input guys.
i really appreciate it.
 
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[quote name='xmxbulletxmx']Hey guys.
i know that there are probably hundreds of threads out there just like this one.

but i have 800 dollars.
and a mission for a nice tv.

the only things im looking for are the normal things.
the largest size and best specs for the price.

also please try to keep in mind.
i have a 360, and i am also getting an HD DVD add on for it as well.

so if possible i would like 1080p.

unless that makes no different given the size.

thanks for all of the input guys.
i really appreciate it.[/quote]

more details, what size? Do you prefer new or will you buy used? etc...
 
Are you able to get a credit card at Circuit City or Best Buy?

I'd do that if I were you (since that's what I did), you'd be able to get a better TV than what you normally could and you'd have like...3 years to pay it off with no interest.
 
Too bad you didnt throw this out last week... Im enjoying my 37" Olevia that I snagged for 550 from Target, on a tv that size it didnt really matter about the 1080p since the 2 things I have hooked into the hdmi's are 1080i max (HD-DVR and upconvert dvd player)

Besides my 61" JVC is there for my 1080p needs... I dont see where 1080p will matter on anything smaller than 40" anyway
 
damn.

thats one of my main questions though.
so would you recommend buying a larger tv.
such as a 42" or something like that for the price.

or a 37" 1080p tv if possible.

because www.newegg.com has a 37" 1080p monitor for 800.
and i was just wondering if i could find a better deal than that.

so on a 37" tv, an HDDVD wouldnt look much different with 1080i or 1080p?
 
Great 37" would be 810 after coupon
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-37-Bravia-H-Series-LCD-Rear-Projection-HDTV-KDF-37H1000/sem/rpsm/oid/185196/catOid/-12867/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

If you have a costco card
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11190355&whse=BC&Ne=5000002%204000000&eCat=BC|79|2341|3316&N=4001382%204294908733&Mo=12&pos=1&No=3&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|0||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10605-Cat2341&topnav=


c city
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8274672&type=product&id=1171058029049

sort of restricted to 37" unless you can get a DLP or something

You probably won't find a 37" set with 1080p for that price range, plus you don't really need it.

720p would be just fine.
 
At $800 you're buying a 2nd tier system.....AKAI, WESTINGHOUSE, VIZIO, SCEPTRE, OLEVIA, etc......competant displays for gaming or PC use, not the best picture quality or deepest black levels.

37 to 42" if you shop around.

Or look in the paper, probably someone selling a 1080i CRT rear projector for a few hundred bucks.

Average pricing seems to be:
32" = 600-900
37" = 700-1100
42" = 1000-1400
46+ = 1400 and up
 
Well I have a Samsung 32'' that I got for around $800 if you're willing to settle for smaller. I'd highly recommend buying one if you would.

Fantastic TV.
 
i have no problem settling for one smaller.

just i'd rather not go smaller than 32"
the samsung you have.

what are the specs on it?
 
thank you man.
it looks like a good deal.

i may have to jump.
now.

although the westinghouse on newegg is 1080p.
would you say that the samsung would more likely have a better picture then?

also.
i would like to know if anyone has found any sites with some good deals on HD DVDs as well.

thanks.
 
[quote name='xmxbulletxmx']Hey guys.

800 dollars.

the largest size and best specs for the price.

1080p.[/QUOTE]

I can't believe how many people jumped straight to flat panel recommendations. Look into projection sets. AVSForum will back me up here -- $800 can either get you a great CRT, good RP set, or crappy flat panel. The CRT will be ~30", the RP will be ~46" - ~65", and the flat panel will be ~30".

The only people who should be buying flat panels in your price range are people without the space for a projection set.

As for RP, my personal preference is DLP just because it saves space compared to RPTVs.
 
well.

do you have any recommendations for a projection tv then?
im open to all options here.

flat panel tvs arent required by any means.
so any and all options are welcome.
 
avsforums.com


FYI most DLP tv's that are 1080p aren't really true 1080p

basically it breaks down like this


a good LCD will cost you around $1000-1300 for 32"
a good plasma will cost you around $1300-1600 for 42"
a good DLP/SXRD (SXRD is better IMO) will cost you $1600-2000 for around 50"


i know its hard for a lot of people, but tvs are one thing where you still get what you pay for, you go cheap, you will get crappy results, sure it may be liveable for some, but not for me (also, the only decent cheap LCD brand is olevia, and with them its still not the greatest, but they by far have the best PQ of any of the cheap LCD brands...though like any cheap brand there service and reliability isn't great...though to be fair, samsung products have tons of issues, you will find that out on avsforums.com too)
 
[quote name='whoknows']Are you able to get a credit card at Circuit City or Best Buy?

I'd do that if I were you (since that's what I did), you'd be able to get a better TV than what you normally could and you'd have like...3 years to pay it off with no interest.[/QUOTE]

Personably, I think it'd be better to not buy a TV than get into debt.
 
I just bought the 50 inch Maxent tv from Best Buy. After doing some research it seems to be a good lower quality tv. This is my first HD purchase and I['m really just looking to watch sports on it and paly some games. Anyone know how this tv is at all? I did purchase the 4 year warranty with it.
 
[quote name='SuppaMan']


FYI most DLP tv's that are 1080p aren't really true 1080p



[/quote]

so.
since their not true HD.
figuratively speaking on a would a LCD have a better picture then?
a decent LCD i mean.
 
places like fry's have deals every weekend...check their friday ads...top of the line 32" lcds can be had for $800
 
would you recommend a second tier somewhat decent 1080p 37" tv.
or a top of the line 720p or possibly 1080p 32" tv.

what would be better to have?
 
[quote name='xmxbulletxmx']would you recommend a second tier somewhat decent 1080p 37" tv.
or a top of the line 720p or possibly 1080p 32" tv.

what would be better to have?[/quote]

just depends on your screen size preference and the size of the room your putting it in.
 
id like 32" or larger.

putting it in perspective its going to either be a 32" or a 37".
and the room im putting it in.

its 12'x10'.

does that help at all?
its a bedroom.
 
That helps a lot -- it rules out a large rear-projection set, which would have been my top recommendation. Rear projection sets are typically thick (18" - 36") and the ideal viewing distance is proportional to size. That is, you need to sit further away from a 70" screen than a 30" screen.

For a bedroom your size, I'd recommend a CRT.

A 30" or 32" CRT will give you a much better picture than any comparable panel, and at a better price. Keep in mind it will be HEAVY -- 200+ lbs is not uncommon. I think my 30" CRT is around 180lbs.
 
I'd try to get a bit more cash, and maybe get something a bit better. A 37" LG has pretty good picture quality, and can be had for 899 at sears. Pricematch that at the retailer of your choice.
 
[quote name='superstevedogg']I'd try to get a bit more cash, and maybe get something a bit better. A 37" LG has pretty good picture quality, and can be had for 899 at sears. Pricematch that at the retailer of your choice.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure it's lower res (likely 768p) with much worse contrast than a CRT.

I'm not trying to crap on your suggestion -- if the OP wants a panel, that's a good suggestion, but I'd still urge the OP to consider CRT and only go with a flat panel if space demanded it. No use paying more for a worse picture, just because it's thin. A lot of people do, though...
 
[quote name='Koggit']I'm sure it's lower res (likely 768p) with much worse contrast than a CRT.

I'm not trying to crap on your suggestion -- if the OP wants a panel, that's a good suggestion, but I'd still urge the OP to consider CRT and only go with a flat panel if space demanded it. No use paying more for a worse picture, just because it's thin. A lot of people do, though...[/QUOTE]

Can you even find CRT anymore? The one samsung we have at work, a 30 inch slimfit CRT HDTV probably has the best picture of basically anything out there, but it's so freaking huge. I mean, I'd love a 34" Sony XBR tube, but it's so goddamned heavy. But of course it's probably the best picture of anything made. All I'm sayin is if you're going to go the flat panel route, just avoid the ones with the 2000ish dynamic contrast and at least looking for something a bit better. Maybe next year the olevias/elements/vizios of this world will have higher than 1000:1 contrasts, and it won't be much different than the big guys.
 
you cant even go by contrast ratio anymore since its a numbers game and companies are posting their dynamic ratio's instead of static. Dynamic contrast ratio doesn't have a standard measuring unit, which is why you'll see samsung tout insane numbers but find another tv with a better picture.

Example, Sony for year's until recently listed static contrast ratio, which is why their tv's would say 1700:1 for contrast, but look better than the samsung next to it which would be rated at something like 8000:1 (not the only reason mind you, panel processing, among other things factor in but that's not the point here)


personally for sports, lcd's aren't there yet, the xbr4 does a decent job, but still not quite there (plus i think they are to bright once you get them home, and then you turn down the backlight and it washes out details..then you have the LED backlight in the sammy 81 series, but having lights shut off doesnt help, all reviewers have noted that in regular viewing the top of the top in prices between lcd and plasma, and well the sammy 81 loses out to the pioneer kuros)

point being you might not want an lcd for anything fast action or if you are particular about having the best picture, plus for the money you'll get a bigger picture (though plasma's don't come in 37" anymore, the smallest size now is 42")`

also a side note, most better samsung lcd's have an insanely shiny screen, worse than new plasma's, they reflect light like a bitch in case you may have an issue with windows and lights in the room....personally i think samsung is shit, they get notoriety because their picture isnt bad and they keep their prices lower than sony, but they seem to have so many more god damn issues with their products not to mention bring in new issues to help make their picture better (the new shiny screens, which totally negate a whole benefit that lcd's had with matte screens)
 
alright. So based on what you guys have said.

you would recommend straying away from a flat panel, and moving to a CRT?
What kind of CRT's do you think would be a good tv?

also.
IF i were to stay with the LCD tv's then what brands would you say are in my price range that will have a decent picture compared to the CRT's mentioned?

sorry for all of the questions guys.
just trying to make the best decision.
 
Hey OP, you're already doing the right thing by hoppin on the net and shopping and learning.

www.cnet.com is also a fantastic source for learning about HDTVs.

I was set on a sony and went into CC to pick it up, but switched to an open box 42" DLP Samsung HLRsomethingorother HDTV. It is SICK!! They happened to be having an open box sale, and I signed up for cred card (paid it off in 10 mos. so no interest and then cut it up) so I got another 10% off. At the end of the deal I checked it over again and saw a 1" scratch on the screen that you can only see from 1 foot away when the screen is off, so I asked the manager to give me some more money off and he gave me another 50 bucks off so ASK!!! Some things to be aware of are color temp and connectivity options (HDMI ports, COmponent, VGA etc.).

Anyway at the end of the day it was $750 out the door for a 42" Samsung DLP HDTV so I was unbeleivably stoked. That was about a year ago exactly. Here is the TV and you could probably get it even cheaper now even though it is a year or two old at this point: http://reviews.cnet.com/projection-tvs/samsung-hl-r4266w/4505-6484_7-31335747.html?tag=prod.txt.2
 
There is a 37" sony rptv for around 900 bucks. My one friend from work bought it, and is pretty happy with the performance. Granted, I dunno if OP knows about the issues with bulbs in dlp/rptv. And how they typically last 2-3 years.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I'd still much rather have an LCD than a CRT at this point. It's not like CRTs are immune to problems, either.[/quote]

I'd much rather have a plasma than a CRT or LCD. Why? It's the closest thing to a CRT in flat panel products (in both picture quality and issues). IMO get a good plasma (panasonic or pioneer), break it in taking it easy with low picture settings (all stuff on zero or so) for the first 100-150 hours while varying content (not a lot of the same static image stuff, like not all espn, or all fox, etc) and bam once you break 150 hours, you can jack your settings up to wherever you want them, and do what you want and you'll probaby not even have much of a hint of IR (image retention, forget burn-in, your chance of that at that point would be no greater than a CRT, so basically saying by then unless you are a complete idiot who leaves something on the screen forever in a still image you'll never see it, only chance would be a bad unit, which could happen with any tv).


LCD's suck to much right now. They still cost more per square inch than plasma's, their image quality is still worse and they still have way more problems handling motion than any other TV format out there (i'll find the link that shows you how bad they are, and its actually tested the top new LCD's).



okay from a thread i had posted at avsforums.com, guy posted it from an article about motion and resolution...

Further info to support doogiehowser (from \/\/ \/\/ \/\/ .hdguru.com/will-the-2007-hdtv-you-choose-give-you-all-resolution-you-expect/187/ and also the reason why I have chosen PDP (Panny TH50PF10UK) over LCD (Sony/Samsung). I also will tend to watch more sports and use the panel more for TV viewing than my HTPC.

Static and Motion Resolution

A particular HDTV may resolve a stationary test signal at full bandwidth, but what happens when motion is introduced? The answer, the on-screen resolution drops. This can have a significant affect on your viewing experience, especially if you tastes tend toward sports and action. How much resolution loss occurs? To find out I used a new test tool called the FPD Benchmark Software for the Professional. This Blu-ray disc contains a pattern called a monoscope pattern (pictured above) which is made up of a series of four black lines drawn so they gradually come together in a wedge like pattern that appears at the top, bottom and sides. There are numbers adjacent to the lines indicating resolution. One section of the disc has the pattern stationary (static resolution), in the following section, the same “monoscope” pattern moves from left to right (motion resolution). The stationary number where all four lines could be distinguished was recorded and then the test was repeated with the motion pattern with the area where the four lines could still be discerned as separate and not blurred together was noted. These numbers were then compared.

The result, three distinct groups emerged from this test of the twenty 1080p displays. All displays in the top group were plasma HDTVs. They all had a static resolution of 1080 lines and a measured motion resolution of 830-880 lines, depending on the specific display. The next group consisted of microdisplay rear projectors, static measured 1050-1080 (depending on the display) while motion resolution ranged of 610-780 lines. The bottom group were all the LCD flat panels, with a static resolution of 400 (one panel) to 1080 lines and motion rez coming in at 360 lines (one set tested) to 600 lines. Three of the LCDs tested were 120 Hz models (one was the Sony KDL-46XBR4 reviewed here), all 120 Hz models had 600 lines of motion resolution.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='SuppaMan']I'd much rather have a plasma than a CRT or LCD. Why? It's the closest thing to a CRT in flat panel products (in both picture quality and issues). IMO get a good plasma (panasonic or pioneer), break it in taking it easy with low picture settings (all stuff on zero or so) for the first 100-150 hours while varying content (not a lot of the same static image stuff, like not all espn, or all fox, etc) and bam once you break 150 hours, you can jack your settings up to wherever you want them, and do what you want and you'll probaby not even have much of a hint of IR (image retention, forget burn-in, your chance of that at that point would be no greater than a CRT, so basically saying by then unless you are a complete idiot who leaves something on the screen forever in a still image you'll never see it, only chance would be a bad unit, which could happen with any tv).
[/QUOTE]

Well yeah, I'm not going to try and debate whether or not plasmas are the best overall. The only real advantage LCDs seem to have over plasmas is the variety of sizes. Not everyone can get a 40+" panel.
 
[quote name='zman73']http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/productdetail.do?productguid=4328965C3ACA008E00000000828BD472463D8D5D741D204202000000828BD4B2&productarea=4328965C3ACA008E00000000828BD472&scenario=catalog&shop=OUTLET


Use promo code CYBEROUTLET to bring it down to 679.99 In home delivery 29.99 extra... factory renewed but it is an option for a 42" 1080p LCD[/quote]

how long does that promo code last for?
and are philips tv's generally good?

like overall.
is this the best tv i can get for the price?
 
[quote name='xmxbulletxmx']how long does that promo code last for?
and are philips tv's generally good?

like overall.
is this the best tv i can get for the price?[/QUOTE]

Today and tomorrow only... although for some reason I dont think you will make a decision in the next month ;)

It is a magnavox tv... go on the site yourself to find out more, do you own legwork and figure out what YOU really want, its not rocket science to find a deal online... thats how I found my jvc for around 2000 shipped earlier this year, much cheaper than local retailers
 
[quote name='zman73']Today and tomorrow only... although for some reason I dont think you will make a decision in the next month ;)

It is a magnavox tv... go on the site yourself to find out more, do you own legwork and figure out what YOU really want, its not rocket science to find a deal online... thats how I found my jvc for around 2000 shipped earlier this year, much cheaper than local retailers[/quote]

thanks for the deals zman.
i've decided that im going to try to get either a sony or a samsung.

i've found i couple different nice samsungs on different sites.
and a bravia or two.

ive decided to aim for a higher quality and a smaller screen.
rather than a lower quality with a larger screen.

thanks for the help guys.
 
I looked for 3-4 months before I pulled the trigger on my hdtv. Did alot of research over at avsforum. In the end it was a no brainer when I saww the 42" sharp lc-42d64u on circuit citys website for $1199. I recommend checking cc website frequently as their prices bounce around quite a bit. Best buy you can pretty much check the weekly ad. Sears is good to keep an eye on as well.
If you can save up 2-300 more in a couple months I would do that. Some of the best deals are in that price range. Also check
sd/fw
so as to not miss a good deal.
 
[quote name='xmxbulletxmx']Hey guys.
i know that there are probably hundreds of threads out there just like this one.

but i have 800 dollars.
and a mission for a nice tv.

the only things im looking for are the normal things.
the largest size and best specs for the price.

also please try to keep in mind.
i have a 360, and i am also getting an HD DVD add on for it as well.

so if possible i would like 1080p.

unless that makes no different given the size.

thanks for all of the input guys.
i really appreciate it.[/quote]
Go for Vizio or Toshiba. They're great bang-for-your-buck TV brands. I hear Olevia's good picture too, but can't vouch for that. for $800 you'd have to go 37"
or smaller and won't get 1080p in that size/price. another $200 will get you a few more inches ;) and 1080p. I've found the best prices on quality HDTV's on http://amazon.com. my philosophy is you don't want to go too cheap on a HDTV to where it's obsolete or you outgrow it in a few years. it's an investment for your personal entertainment...:D If you decide to go for quality, samsung hands down has everyone beat as far as picture quality. their 1080p 120Hz LCD's are UNREAL! stuff on HD-DVD looks fake that it looks fake. For high quality, go samsung, sony, LG, then Sharp all in order of descending picture quality. go to a CC and watch the samsung when a HD-DVD movie trailer comes on and you'll be blown away...let us know what you get.

some good sites:
http://slickdeals.net
http://techbargains.com
 
check out macmall.com thats where I got my TV from.. (I got a vizio VX37L) at the size and budget your looking at, 1080P isn't worth the extra money (unless you sit 2 feet away or less form the tv)

good luck!
 
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