Need some advice on TV purchases.

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aaa

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I have a $750 Sears Gift Card, and I want to use it on a TV. I don't want to spend too much out of pocket, and here are some choices that I am interested in.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05746485000&tab=spe#tab

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05742055000&subcat=HDTVs

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05742664000&subcat=HDTVs

The Toshiba one looks like it is the best, but is it worth the extra $200? Also, should I wait for Black Friday? Does Sears even participate in Black Friday? I don't really want to spend more than the Toshiba price. ($450 after GiftCard) Thanks for any help.
 
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I'm pretty sure Sears participates in Black Friday but there's no saying if those exact models will be discounted.

And I think that Sony is probably the best one.
 
Those are all good TVs. I almost bought that Samsung one when I bought my new TV, but my decesion ended up being between the Sony one you have listed there and a Panasonic one of the same size and features. I went with the Panasonic one because I got a better deal on it than I would have with the Sony.

The Samsung one fell out of the running for me due to the fact that the picture quality just wasn't as good (in my eyes) as either the Panasocic or Sony. The Samsung does have a built in HD tuner though (what you need to watch over the air HD broadcasts.) The Sony one requires a seperate HD tuner. It's also really slim for a tube TV, which does look cool. It doesn't support 720p though, just 420p and 1080i (though on CRT TVs, you're not going to get true 720 anyway.)

Between those 3, (don't know too much about the Toshiba one) and if you don't want to spend too much after your gift card, I would go with the Sony one. It supports 420p, 720p and 1080i (I believe) and despite it being larger than the Samsung (in depth) to me it has a better picture quality. No HD Tuner, but you really don't need one just yet (until more channels offer HD broadcasts anyway) and if you do need one, you can get a settop box from your cable company for free usually.


Edit- Jeez, I got all the specs wrong, the Samsung is the one with 720p support. It's late. Yeah, anyway on CRT TVs, it's not a really big deal, 1080i will look just as good as 720p. Most Xbox games are 420p anyway.
 
[quote name='Vinny']I'm pretty sure Sears participates in Black Friday but there's no saying if those exact models will be discounted.

And I think that Sony is probably the best one.[/QUOTE]

How come? I will be gaming on this, and that TV doesn't do 720P. Also, I heard that a Chinese company makes the Toshiba set, so would that be an issue?

Thanks for the info on Black Friday. I do have a question though:

Since Sears Pricematches, could I just price match a deal from Best Buy/Circuit City, and get 10% off at Sears, or do they not allow PM on Black Friday.

Lastly, do you think I should wait until Black Friday, or just buy one now?

Thanks for any help.
 
Go Sony, I have the 36" version. I tried 2 Toshiba sets and they wouldn't recognize my XBox when it was hooked up to them. The Samsung just doesn't look as good. Plus the sound out of Sony tvs is pretty impressive.
 
[quote name='scsg75']Those are all good TVs. I almost bought that Samsung one when I bought my new TV, but my decesion ended up being between the Sony one you have listed there and a Panasonic one of the same size and features. I went with the Panasonic one because I got a better deal on it than I would have with the Sony.

The Samsung one fell out of the running for me due to the fact that the picture quality just wasn't as good (in my eyes) as either the Panasocic or Sony. The Samsung does have a built in HD tuner though (what you need to watch over the air HD broadcasts.) The Sony one requires a seperate HD tuner. It's also really slim for a tube TV, which does look cool. It doesn't support 720p though, just 420p and 1080i (though on CRT TVs, you're not going to get true 720 anyway.)

Between those 3, (don't know too much about the Toshiba one) and if you don't want to spend too much after your gift card, I would go with the Sony one. It supports 420p, 720p and 1080i (I believe) and despite it being larger than the Samsung (in depth) to me it has a better picture quality. No HD Tuner, but you really don't need one just yet (until more channels offer HD broadcasts anyway) and if you do need one, you can get a settop box from your cable company for free usually.[/QUOTE]

These are the problems I see with the Sony:

It is 4:3 in contrast ratio, not 16:9

Doesn't have a built in HD tuner. (I have COX communications for cable, it might be free with them though)

Doesn't do 720P (Might not be a problem though)

I need to see the TVs in person, and I plan on doing that.
 
[quote name='aaa']These are the problems I see with the Sony:

It is 4:3 in contrast ratio, not 16:9

Doesn't have a built in HD tuner. (I have COX communications for cable, it might be free with them though)

Doesn't do 720P (Might not be a problem though)

I need to see the TVs in person, and I plan on doing that.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was thinking it was the 16:9 Sony one that I was going to buy. Honestly, I would have to change my vote to the Samsung one. Don't get a 4:3 TV. The Samsung one is really a nice TV. In person it's pretty impressive looking for a tube TV. Really slim.
 
I have HD cable with the Sony and you wouldn't believe how INCREDIBLE the picture is on it. Looks like you could step into the screen it's so good.
 
[quote name='aaa']I guess I should also add this TV:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05742654000&tab=spe#tab

Does it matter that it doesn't do 480i/480p??? I realized that 720P doesn't really matter for CRTs. Thank you guys so much for the help so far.[/QUOTE]

That's a decent one too. No 420p support though could be a pain. It'll upconvert the images from devices like an Xbox to 1080i though. It's not to terrible a big deal with no 420p support, but I think the Samsungs the way to go for the money.
 
[quote name='mmercer13']Just remember with 4:3 programming on a widescreen tv you'll have the black bars on the side which can be distracting.[/QUOTE]

True, but you are able to stretch the image to fit the screen. My Panasonic one stretchs the image and then adjusts it so it's not all distorted looking. It actually looks really good with normal TV. I'm pretty sure the Samsung and Sony ones have similar features.
 
See it doesn't bother me and Sonys do a nice job of stretching without distorting.

All tvs do 480i, that is how regular programming is broadcast.

I went through this same dilemma for a strictly gaming tv and went with one of the new SONY HDTV LCDs and LOVE IT.
 
I was reading up some more on the Samsung and I read that they have a sort of masking effect to them. Is this true? Is it on all of them or just some?

I really don't know which one to get now. I love the look of the Samsung and the fact that it has a built in HD tuner, but if it really has this "masking problem" then I need to pass.

The 32" Sony doesn't have 16:9 view, and I think that is a huge fault.

The 30" Sony doesn't have 480i/480p, so I think I should pass.

The 34" Toshiba seems like a good choice, but was a bit more than I wanted to spend. Also, I heard it is made by some strange Chinese company. Is that true at all?
 
THe Sony does everything but 720p. When you see all three next to each other you'll go with the Sony. The other 2 can't touch the picture and sound of the Sony.
 
Yes, it's a horrible rough road you have ahead of you, choosing a TV. I spent about a month looking though reviews, visiting forums, going to the store and just about every week, I;d change my mind until I finally just went to the store and made my purchase. I don't know if Sears carries the TV i got, the 30" widescreen Panasonic Tau series, but I can't recommend it enough if they do. There's no 720p support which is it's only drawback for me, but the picture quality is excellent, even on analog signals, it's still really clear with no fading like you sometimes get with other HD sets. Playing games on it is great, the picture is excellent with HD signals, on par with Sony sets.

I've heard that masking problem with the Samsungs and in the store, there's is a slight difference in picture quality. But due to settings and other variables, it's really hard to judge it properly.

It's just a tough decesion, but go to the store and hopefully find a salesman that knows his TVs and talk to him a bit, that's what I did and it helped a lot.
 
[quote name='scsg75']Yes, it's a horrible rough road you have ahead of you, choosing a TV. I spent about a month looking though reviews, visiting forums, going to the store and just about every week, I;d change my mind until I finally just went to the store and made my purchase. I don't know if Sears carries the TV i got, the 30" widescreen Panasonic Tau series, but I can't recommend it enough if they do. There's no 720p support which is it's only drawback for me, but the picture quality is excellent, even on analog signals, it's still really clear with no fading like you sometimes get with other HD sets. Playing games on it is great, the picture is excellent with HD signals, on par with Sony sets.

I've heard that masking problem with the Samsungs and in the store, there's is a slight difference in picture quality. But due to settings and other variables, it's really hard to judge it properly.

It's just a tough decesion, but go to the store and hopefully find a salesman that knows his TVs and talk to him a bit, that's what I did and it helped a lot.[/QUOTE]

I checked, but there weren't any smaller CRTs from Panasonic. Thank you for all your help, and hopefully I get a guy who knows his stuff at the store.
 
Also, the Samsung is on sale at Circuit City for $899.99. I can get it at Sears with PM and 10% off. All signs seem to point at the samsung. Built in HDTV tuner. Awesome Design. Small. $110 off, making it $310 less than the Toshiba.
 
[quote name='scsg75']Yes, it's a horrible rough road you have ahead of you, choosing a TV. I spent about a month looking though reviews, visiting forums, going to the store and just about every week, I;d change my mind until I finally just went to the store and made my purchase. I don't know if Sears carries the TV i got, the 30" widescreen Panasonic Tau series, but I can't recommend it enough if they do. There's no 720p support which is it's only drawback for me, but the picture quality is excellent, even on analog signals, it's still really clear with no fading like you sometimes get with other HD sets. Playing games on it is great, the picture is excellent with HD signals, on par with Sony sets.

I've heard that masking problem with the Samsungs and in the store, there's is a slight difference in picture quality. But due to settings and other variables, it's really hard to judge it properly.

It's just a tough decesion, but go to the store and hopefully find a salesman that knows his TVs and talk to him a bit, that's what I did and it helped a lot.[/QUOTE]

Excuse me? I BOUGHT my XBR960 because it was the best in the market consumer TV and the WS Toshiba didn't support 720p. 720p support is worth getting on a CRT. I don't get why any of these TV's are supporting 540p unless you can get the 1080i to display instead at that which would be great.
Let's be honest here, picturewise if you're a videophile you don't have a choice right now, it's CRT due to some issues Plasmas and LCD's have. The ONLY device which may end up being good to "display" 720p in CRT quality is SED which is debuting at the end of the year so it will be expensive for a year or two.
 
Actually aaa it shouldn't. It's LCD. Both Plasmas and LCD's have picture problems you're not gonna get with CRT. If you HAVE to have HDTV right now jump at a CRT otherwise I'd suggest waiting and looking at the SED's. Here's my only caveat to you, you won't see ANY consumer format for the most part that will be able to carry the bandwidth necessary for 1080p so that spec. on 1080p is a load of shit. Most likely it's gonna upscan it. The ONLY format I see being able to output enough bandwidth is potentially Firewire in which I could be wrong. Also there's a new Firewire format which would do it easily unfortunately PC standards haven't been really desirable to consumer electronics manufacturers.
Also you could go my way and get the XBR960 or 955. The Toshiba LOOKED nice to me but my gripe is it isn't WS and to be honest I haven't seen the picture. You might want to check the picture of that and the Sony's and see what you think.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Actually aaa it shouldn't. It's LCD. Both Plasmas and LCD's have picture problems you're not gonna get with CRT. If you HAVE to have HDTV right now jump at a CRT otherwise I'd suggest waiting and looking at the SED's. Here's my only caveat to you, you won't see ANY consumer format for the most part that will be able to carry the bandwidth necessary for 1080p so that spec. on 1080p is a load of shit. Most likely it's gonna upscan it. The ONLY format I see being able to output enough bandwidth is potentially Firewire in which I could be wrong. Also there's a new Firewire format which would do it easily unfortunately PC standards haven't been really desirable to consumer electronics manufacturers.
Also you could go my way and get the XBR960 or 955. The Toshiba LOOKED nice to me but my gripe is it isn't WS and to be honest I haven't seen the picture. You might want to check the picture of that and the Sony's and see what you think.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the help. I don't think Sears carries the XBR960 or 955. Of these, which do you think is probably the best buy for the money:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05742485000&subcat=HDTVs

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05742654000&subcat=HDTVs

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05742055000&subcat=HDTVs This samsung is only $890 after Price Match from Circuit City.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05746485000&subcat=HDTVs

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05746384000&subcat=HDTVs Keep in mind only $1200 after $100 off.

I really want the samsung, but if it really has those geometry problems, I shouldn't get it. The Sony is probably the best bang for the buck. I just wish it had a built in tuner like the Samsung.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']I would avoid the Philips given the limited HDTV it can do. My problem with the Sony is that as well. You might really wanna check the pictures first but I'm looking at the Toshiba.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the advice. Sears opens in 2 hours over here, so I will head over. Thanks for all of your help guys. I have one more question:

Does it really matter that the Toshiba has 720P? In the description, it said this:

CrystalScan HDSC™ upconverts all video signals to 1080i HD for smoother images

Does that mean that it is always in 1080i? Including video games and DVDs.

Sorry for being such an obsessive pain in the ass.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']I would avoid the Philips given the limited HDTV it can do. My problem with the Sony is that as well. You might really wanna check the pictures first but I'm looking at the Toshiba.
Here's the 955: http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05746694000&subcat=HDTVs

That's weird, supposedly it doesn't work with 720p? I know my 960 is suppose to.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the link. The TV is out of my price range though. This TV seems like a much better deal for $100 if I wanted to spend that much.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=ELEC&pid=05754644000&subcat=Projection+TVs
 
I work for sony, so my advise is gonna be go for that one, as it is the only one I saw with a HDMI interface, and that is gonna be the way to go for at least the next couple years. And this would be a good one if you are gonna play games on it, plus you can never go wrong with 4 componet inputs. If you want to know anything else, just PM me
 
Hey jcp since you work for them can you tell me if the PS3 will have a HDMI output? Also any good word on a new tech they're working on to beat the SED for picture quality?

Well aaa I know that the 960 is about the same price as the 955 too with a built-in tuner and supposedly better picture along with support for 720p anyway.
Just remember aaa the picture on that will not be as good as a CRT.
 
They haven't really said alot about ps3 to us yet, but i would be suprised if it didn't have a HDMI output. As far as SED, they are going to start using the chip that is only available in the Qualia 006 in some of there newer models
 
The sony does support 480p, and it auto converts a 720p signal to 1080i. Stay far far away from the samsung slimfit. I bought it when they first came out because of the design and returned 2 of them because of picture issues before I just got the sony 30". The sony has a much better picture, and has given me zero problems.
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']The sony does support 480p, and it auto converts a 720p signal to 1080i. Stay far far away from the samsung slimfit. I bought it when they first came out because of the design and returned 2 of them because of picture issues before I just got the sony 30". The sony has a much better picture, and has given me zero problems.[/QUOTE]

Thank you. The sony seems like the one to buy, unless the Toshiba surprises me. I am going to check out the TVs in a little bit. Once again, thanks for all of the help.

Does anyone here have Cox Cable and an HDTV? Does anyone know what you need to buy to get HD broadcasts?
 
Good idea aaa. Always good to see both up close.

Rodeo the problem is 1080i is a bastard format. As far as I'm concerned 480p and 720p are the only true HDTV formats because they're not "interlaced".
They should give you the equipment at no extra charge though I'd suggest you get Dish Network. As it stands for extra TV Dish gives you the most HD shit though most of the VOOM offerings are upscanned. Basically with Dish you get the 5 HD channels you pay extra for then you also get HD movie channels too. This would be about the same as DirecTV if it wasn't for the VOOM channels.
In general for both Satellite services there are 7 channels until you factor in the 10 extra VOOM channels for Dish.
Also there is ABC-HD, NBC-HD, CBS-HD, UPN-HD, WB-HD, FOX-HD and PAX-HD(I think), etc. These you all receive with an OTA antenna so basically if you factor in Dish with the OTA it's like 24 but those extra 7 channels don't broadcast HD all the time either.
 
Here is what I get from COX:

HBO and Showtime HD for free since I already pay for it.

$6 a month for NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, 2 channels that are just random movies/shows from HBO, Showtime, and Starz, and 2 other channels that I can't remember. For an extra $5 a month on top of that, you get Discovery HD and ESPN HD. I won't change my TV service since I have Cox for my TV, internet, and phone service, so I get a discount on all 3 services.

All the channels listed are in HD.
 
1080i may be a "bastard" format to you, but it still looks damn good. I promise you most people can not tell the difference with them side by side.
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']1080i may be a "bastard" format to you, but it still looks damn good. I promise you most people can not tell the difference with them side by side.[/QUOTE]

According to the manual for the 30 inch Sony, it has 720P. Does the 720P automatically get converted to 1080i though? Not really important to me, but I was just curious.
 
I checked out the TVs all day, and I came up with the desicion that the Sony was by far the best. The picture quality was notacibly better than the Toshiba and Samsung at the 4 stores I went to. The kicker is that the TV retails for $900, but Circuit City has it for $810 on their website. The guy at Sears was very nice, and told me that I should just print out what it looks like in the cart, AND the page for the TV. I am getting it for $801 after 10% off, which is a phenomenal deal. Even better is that it will really cost me $50 out of pocket after the $750 gift card. A HUGE thanks to everyone who gave me some advice. You made this a much easier search, and you gave me very accurate information. If anyone in this thread is ever looking into something, give me a PM, and I will help you out as much as I can.

I wanted the 34" Sony, but I couldnt spend close to double the price as the 30" TV for 4 inches. (30=$863.xx after tax. 34=$1616.xx after tax)
 
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