Looking for a new HDTV

Nicko

Nicko

CAGiversary!
Hey all,

My family is looking into buying a new HDTV because out last one was a fiasco. Two years ago we bought a 47" Samsung rear projection HDTV for around $1700. Six months after the warranty expired, the TV started displaying this big thick red angled line across the top of the screen and completely messed up the color display. We took the TV into a repair place and they told us it was just a small inexpensive chip that would need to be replaced. However my dad just got a call from them today saying that the chip is going to be $350 and might not even fix the problem. If the chip does not fix it, we will have to pay an additional $175 for some kind of aline thing. So more than likely we are looking at spending between $500-650 because we have to add on the price of labor. There is also the possibility this thing is just going to crap out on us again soon.

After talking to my parents, we are pretty sure that we just want to get a new TV. So I am wondering if anyone knows of a good quality non-rear projection HDTV that is around a grand or so. And as far as size, we are looking for something between 30-40 inches.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Nicko
 
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i have a 30 widescreen made by sanyo. the price was right, and in comparison the picture is as good as anything else out there (besides the sony vega). it was 650 plus tax. kmart also had a 30 inch widescreen onsale for 500 bucks(reg price 750). it was a no name brand, and i can not attest for its quality. hope this helps. also, i'd recommend at least a 34 inch tv if you are going to get a widescreen. my 30 inch tv is great, but i bought it for a small room. if you have a large room then you might want to go bigger.
 
I would almost see if you can call Samsung and see what they say about that TV. Dumping a 1700.00 investment doesn't seem too wise if they could fix the problem for a few hundred bucks. You aren't going to get near the same quality for 1000 bucks if you are looking for something that big. That being said, I have a 27" Samsung HDTV that is perfect for my apartment.

thagoat mentioned a 30" widescreen at kmart that was onsale one time for 499.99. I can attest for this tv's quality. It was complete crap.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']I would almost see if you can call Samsung and see what they say about that TV. Dumping a 1700.00 investment doesn't seem too wise if they could fix the problem for a few hundred bucks. You aren't going to get near the same quality for 1000 bucks if you are looking for something that big. That being said, I have a 27" Samsung HDTV that is perfect for my apartment.

thagoat mentioned a 30" widescreen at kmart that was onsale one time for 499.99. I can attest for this tv's quality. It was complete crap.[/quote]
Yes, call Samsung up, even if its out of warranty, they can still help you. You'll just have to pay. This crap with the repair place seems fishy, bring it to Samsung. Samsung's a good company, not at all like they used to be.
 
I'm going to get a new HDTV sometime this year. My 27" Sony Trinitron, though having served me well, is no longer enough for gaming. Once I saw Halo 2 sniping on a widescreen HDTV my mind was made up.

I know this doesn't apply to you but the Sony 34XBR910 HDTV seems, to me, to be the ultimate gaming rig.
 
I love my 30' Sony Widescreen HDTV :D . I believe they go for about a grand or so. Great picture and even better for gaming :p
 
Alright, I called Samsung electronics again and they said that if my 1yr warranty is up, then I am on my own. So then I called the TV repair place and they told me it is going to be around $450 overall to fix.

Knowing this, my dad just wants to wash his hands of the whole thing, and has decided he wants to get a Widescreen CRT HDTV between 30-40" and is willing to spend between $800 and a grand. So do you guys know of any current sweet deals that fit this description?

Thanks again for all the help you guys have given me.

Nicko
 
That doesn't make any sense. He's willing to lose his initial investment into your old TV AND spend another $800 - $1,000 when he could just pay $450 and have the old one working.

Your dad is either rich or stupid.
 
You'll really hate it if you go SMALLER though. You will not find ANY NON-RPTV HDTV for under $1000 if it's not the same size.

People have always said...if they get a smaller TV, even 5-10" smaller, it looks a LOT smaller than it really is.

If you had the room for a RPTV, I'd go with a 55" Mits
 
The main reason that my dad does not want to spend the $450 to get the 47" fixed is because he is afraid that it will break again soon and then we will have to shell out another wad of cash. So his plan is to just buy a new TV altogethar. How soon do you guys think that the 47" will have problems if we decide to get it fixed and keep it? I really appreciate all of your comments, keep em comming.

Nicko
 
You definately want to contact Samsung re: this problem. They may have documentation of the issue for that specific TV and should be able to get you correct product support. The manufacturer would also, most likely, support their repair for a limited time, so you'd be covered if it went bad again. It depends on the manufacturer, but it does make sense to get a real answer from the company making these things rather than go through an independent repair dealer.
 
Get a CRT Front Projector.

You can quite easily get a nice working 7" for under a grand easy. No pixels, excellent contrast, big picture, NO BULBS, and last forever.

Chris
 
Consumer Reports ranked Sony's HD sets as the best across the board. And there are a few under 1000 dollars. Ill probably get one sometime this year.
 
yeah, If you have the money and like samsung get the Samsung HLP5685W , so nice, im hoping to get that one for myself soon
 
i went through the same process when i was shopping around for a hdtv early last year. after extensive research and buying and returning a samsung hdtv + toshiba hdtv (screen geometry problems, unsatisified w/ picture quality even after tweaking), i finally went w/ what i should have all along, the 32" sony wega hdtv. i refrained from going w/ the sony tv because it was $300 more expensive than samsung and $200 more than toshiba. ultimately i have found it to be the best and the extra $ was well worth it. now almost a year later still works wonderfully although my only gripe is that i should have gone w/ a widescreen tv. gran turismo 4 in 1080i looks incredible, but i only wished i had a 16:9 tv so i can get rid of the black bars...
 
[quote name='PittsburghAfterDark']I know this doesn't apply to you but the Sony 34XBR910 HDTV seems, to me, to be the ultimate gaming rig.[/quote]

You sir, are a very wise man! :D

I have that very TV and it is absolutely fabulous! I know it's a not in the OP's price range, but he very well may be able to find the 30" version (KV-30XBR910) on clearence somewhere for around $1000, as the old XBR910's have now been replaced with the new XBR960's, which really aren't that much different.

When I did all my research looking for Direct View HDTV's about 2 years ago, it was always a head-to-head duel between Sony and Philips for the best picture. The Sony models always just barely beat out the Philips in every review I read, but it was always by the most narrow of margins. It mostly came down to the reviewers personal choice at the end rather than one set being objectively better than the other. So, going with either brand is a pretty sure bet.

Also check out this website: avsforum.com

It has a ton of great information on every type of television you could ever think about buying.

Hope this helps! I will leave you all with picture of my heavenly Sony KV-34XBR910 that I posted in another thread, for all of you to drool over and wish you were me! :drool: Check out the twin-screen action with my XBOX playing on one side and my Dreamcast playing on the other! \:D/







 
Alright, my dad and I have narrowed down our search for new TV. We are trying to decide which is the over all best deal between three 34" widescreen direct view HDTV's. These are the TV's:

1. A Sony Trinitron - $1300 + $200 shipping = $1500
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...6744?_encoding=UTF8&m=A3LJ5WMKNRFKQS&v=glance

2. A Toshiba TheatreWide - $1200, free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...76744?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

3. A Panasonic TheatreWide - $1049 + $180 shipping = $1234
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...6744?_encoding=UTF8&m=A3LJ5WMKNRFKQS&v=glance

So out of these three sets, which do you guys feel is the overall best deal? PittsburghAfterDark was saying how much he liked his Sony, but is it worth the extra cash? Also some of you guys were talking about Philips TV's, however the majority of the reviews for them have been very poor. Thanks for your help guys.

Nicko
 
[quote name='Professor Oreo'][quote name='PittsburghAfterDark']I know this doesn't apply to you but the Sony 34XBR910 HDTV seems, to me, to be the ultimate gaming rig.[/quote]

You sir, are a very wise man! :D

I have that very TV and it is absolutely fabulous! I know it's a not in the OP's price range, but he very well may be able to find the 30" version (KV-30XBR910) on clearence somewhere for around $1000, as the old XBR910's have now been replaced with the new XBR960's, which really aren't that much different.

When I did all my research looking for Direct View HDTV's about 2 years ago, it was always a head-to-head duel between Sony and Philips for the best picture. The Sony models always just barely beat out the Philips in every review I read, but it was always by the most narrow of margins. It mostly came down to the reviewers personal choice at the end rather than one set being objectively better than the other. So, going with either brand is a pretty sure bet.

Also check out this website: avsforum.com

It has a ton of great information on every type of television you could ever think about buying.

Hope this helps! I will leave you all with picture of my heavenly Sony KV-34XBR910 that I posted in another thread, for all of you to drool over and wish you were me! :drool: Check out the twin-screen action with my XBOX playing on one side and my Dreamcast playing on the other! \:D/







[/quote]

You, my friend, are one lucky, lucky man (looks sadly at old, 27 in TV with only coaxial inputs and :fridge:
 
Well i would go with the Sony if i were you... its the best brand out there.
At circuitcity it was 1440 http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=95492 and free shipping

If your short on money philips is a solid brand.. I have a flat crt philips brand tv for 5 years and its been great...

Here is a 34 inch widescreen at bestbuy for 1200 and you get a free dvd player and free shipping http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat31800050030&id=1077624868291 and if you get the rewards progam you can get like 50 in bestbuy money rewards so its a tough choice but probably search and youll probably
 
$1300 for a 34" TV ?!?! :shock:

To expensive for my blood. For gaming I would just get a Wally world TV. The game is not going to be any less fun with a different TV.

I got a cheap ass CRT Projector for movies and wally world cheap ass tv for gaming. Couldn't be happier.


Chris
 
Although I'm a little biased, I'd still probably go with the Sony. Be sure to check out AVSforum.com and see what the people are saying about these TVs. It may give you some more insight from an actual owner's standpoint as far as what they like, versus what problems they may be having. I would also recommend trying to buy your televion in-store since you may be able to cut a deal with the manager to significantly lower the price if you offer to buy the store's extended warrenty/protection plan.
 
What about burn-in on your TV???

I'm concerned about destroying this kind of TV simply from watching television in 4:3 mode (wary of sidebars).
 
[quote name='coldwine']What about burn-in on your TV???

I'm concerned about destroying this kind of TV simply from watching television in 4:3 mode (wary of sidebars).[/quote]

Burn-in is terribly difficult to get on a CRT Television even if you tried. It's a problem more associated with Rear-Projection TV's and some Plasma Tv's. If you truly are concerned with that though, most widescreen tv's have a decent number of ways to stretch a 4:3 image to fill the entire 16:9 screen and minimize the picure distortion so it looks fairly natural.
 
[quote name='fieldkillah']I recently bought a 51" sony rear projection HDTV, best 1500 ive ever spent. I posted this pic of it on another thread. [/quote]

LOL 99 lives ,cheater ! is that your ps2 collection on the wall wow what a fanboy , :!:
 
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