Upgrading from 27" tube TV finally! Need some advice!

[Lazarey]

I am finally upgrading from a very old 27" tube television! I don't think I know enough about TV tech to comfortably make this decision on my own. That's where you guys (and ladies) come in! If you would be willing to help me with this, I would be very grateful!

I think I'm pretty picky about picture quality, I'm seen big TVs in Best Buy and other places that didn't even look as good as my 27" tube! What's up with that? Of course I've also seen ones that look spectacular!
Bottom line is, picture quality is more important to me than size, but I would like a fairly large TV.

The TV will be around 10-12 feet from the couch and about 8-9 feet from the recliner. The room has a lot of light in it all day. I would like for it to be fairly future proof (is that the right term?) because I will not be able to buy another one for a long time unless I win the lottery .

I heard that standard TV doesn't look good on HD sets, is this true? I have DirecTV right now, if that matters. I will probably get an Xbox 360 one of these days (I've been holding off because of my crappy TV).

I pay to get my local channels through DirecTV and I watch them the most (sitcoms, LOST, ect.). I also watch the DirecTV channels (Colbert Report, Starz movies, anything on Speed channel, ect). I watch DVD and some VHS movies also. I record shows on DVD+RW and DVD+R (when I want to keep them forever!) with my DVD recorder. I'd like to be able to watch LOST and other local programing in HD, do I have to pay for that? I'm not as concerned with watching non-local channels (like TBS, FX, Comedy Central) in HD. I want something that will do good at standard definition because I will probably be watching it most. I'd like to watch HD movies and play Xbox 360 in HD as well.

I do not have high-speed internet because I live so far out in the sticks, so I won't be streaming video from my PC or anything. However, I will get high-speed as soon as it's available, so if possible I want the TV to be able to connect to a PC (but it's not critical).

I'm don't really know what kind of equipment I might need, or what kind of TV to get as far as LCD, DLP, Plasma, rear projection, ect, ect.

EDIT: My price range is under $2000.


Thanks so much for reading all this! I have to make a decision in the next few days, so please point me in the right direction! Also, are there some other forums I should look at since [H]ard is more centered around PCs?

P.S. I have a Sam's Club card if that factors into the decision at all.

 

[gr0m45]

I think I'm pretty picky about picture quality, I'm seen big TVs in Best Buy and other places that didn't even look as good as my 27" tube! What's up with that? Of course I've also seen ones that look spectacular!
Bottom line is, picture quality is more important to me than size, but I would like a fairly large TV.

They were probably showing SD content through a bunch of splitters. If you were watching HD content, you would know it.

The TV will be around 10-12 feet from the couch and about 8-9 feet from the recliner. The room has a lot of light in it all day. I would like for it to be fairly future proof (is that the right term?) because I will not be able to buy another one for a long time unless I win the lottery .

I would say a minimum of 42' display for you... but you probably already knew that.

I heard that standard TV doesn't look good on HD sets, is this true? I have DirecTV right now, if that matters. I will probably get an Xbox 360 one of these days (I've been holding off because of my crappy TV).

Yes this is generally true, except on a tube HDTV, it actually looks a little better than a regular tube TV in some cases. As far as directv goes, SD content doesn't look very good at all on an LCD or Plasma HDTV. Not sure about DLP though. DirecTV SD signal looks slightly worse than regular SD off of antenna or analog cable, because of the video compression. I've gotten used to it though, I think that you probably would too.

Good call on the 360, on an SD tv, you might as well just have a regular Xbox because you don't really get benefit of the improved graphics and higher res.

I pay to get my local channels through DirecTV and I watch them the most (sitcoms, LOST, ect.). I also watch the DirecTV channels (Colbert Report, Starz movies, anything on Speed channel, ect). I watch DVD and some VHS movies also. I record shows on DVD+RW and DVD+R (when I want to keep them forever!) with my DVD recorder. I'd like to be able to watch LOST and other local programing in HD, do I have to pay for that? I'm not as concerned with watching non-local channels (like TBS, FX, Comedy Central) in HD. I want something that will do good at standard definition because I will probably be watching it most. I'd like to watch HD movies and play Xbox 360 in HD as well.

I don't think that you can get your local channels in HD if you are getting them through directv. You can however get the regular network channels in HD, but you of course have to have the HD receiver and pay the $10 or so per month for the privilege.

If you want to get your local channels in HD, which is free, you should get a TV with a built-in tuner (ATSC), and then you can just hook up a regular antenna and pick them up. But.... depending on how far out into the sticks you live, that might be a problem too.

I'm don't really know what kind of equipment I might need, or what kind of TV to get as far as LCD, DLP, Plasma, ect. I know that 1080p is the best HD, but I don't really know why.

The only things I know of that can take advantage of 1080p are PCs, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and not sure about 360.

P.S. I have a Sam's Club card if that factors into the decision at all.

Yeah it might be. If you're serious about getting a killer setup and want to know what to expect, it might be worth your while to get a starter HDTV, like a Vizio from Sam's club, where I think you can get like a 27' or 32' for between $500 and $1000. They are still good TVs, though. If you like what you see, you can go bigger and give the other TV to the kids. Or if you don't like it you can probably take it back to Sam's, I hear they're pretty good about that stuff.

 

[CookieFactory]

Best LCD TVs with regard to picture quality out right now (at the 46" size) are the Sharp LC46D92U and the Sony KDL-46XBR2. Both however, have their issues, namely banding and clouding respectively.

 

[Lazarey]

Sorry I forgot to add my price range! It's under $2000.

 

[killernoodle]

Under 1500, do NOT buy an LCD or plasma. Waste of $$. Go for a big DLP set, they provide the best screen size and picture quality for the money. Go at least 50". I got a 52" Toshiba 52HM95 that I bought for $535 on ebay. Its 10 feet from my couch and it is just about the perfect viewing size. SD content looks good, HD content looks fantastic.

 

[esturk]

I have an SXRD and am happy with it. Some like them, some don't.

For your budget, I'd suggest a Westinghouse W3, 42".

I have seen folks get these for ~1100 and a bit less. I think we can argue about how this and that could and should be better . . . but that's a very nice tv for that price.

1080p at 42" for ~1k. Who's gonna argue with that? ( joking I know plenty who love to)

 

[Lazarey]

I have an SXRD and am happy with it. Some like them, some don't.

For your budget, I'd suggest a Westinghouse W3, 42".

I have seen folks get these for ~1100 and a bit less. I think we can argue about how this and that could and should be better . . . but that's a very nice tv for that price.

1080p at 42" for ~1k. Who's gonna argue with that? ( joking I know plenty who love to)

I see a lot of people on here getting Westinghouse stuff, but when I read reviews of the top rated TVs on CNET and pcmag.com there aren't any Westinghouse TVs. At least not highly rated (because I only look at the highly rated ones)

Why is this?

Also, could someone please answer me this question: why are plasmas and LCDs better then rear-projection? It seems like you can get a big rear-projection TV for the same amount as a smaller plasma or LCD. Why? Is it because they are so big? Because I don't have a problem with that. Or they have worse picture quality then a plasma or LCD?

 

[taylorwilsdon]

I see a lot of people on here getting Westinghouse stuff, but when I read reviews of the top rated TVs on CNET and pcmag.com there aren't any Westinghouse TVs. At least not highly rated (because I only look at the highly rated ones)

Why is this?

I don't believe they are really ever put up there with the big guns because nobody can compete with them on price except for crappy Vizios and stuff. They're amazing TV's (my Westinghouse lcdtv looks better then my Sony lcdtv (which was top pick in consumer reports when we bought it) when both are uncalibrated). I'd recommend you really take a long look at the Westinghouses.

 

[Lazarey]

I don't believe they are really ever put up there with the big guns because nobody can compete with them on price except for crappy Vizios and stuff. They're amazing TV's (my Westinghouse lcdtv looks better then my Sony lcdtv (which was top pick in consumer reports when we bought it) when both are uncalibrated). I'd recommend you really take a long look at the Westinghouses.

Here's a review of the Westinghouse LVM-42w2 at pcmag.com:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1996849,00.asp

Here's a summery:
"Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) can deliver more pixels per given screen size than any other display technology, and the Westinghouse LVM-42w2 ($2,299 list) is a 42-inch LCD monitor that offers 1080p resolution (1,920-by-1,080 pixels progressive), as well as an impressive selection of video connections that support this "full HD" video format. The LVM-42w2's high resolution and best-in-class contrast ratio resulted in incredibly detailed imagery, but color inaccuracies and a lack of advanced video features irrevocably tainted this otherwise capable display."

"incredibly detailed imagery" sounds good, but I'd like to have accurate colors as well. What's your opinion?

 

[esturk]

I smell a flame war coming on.

Truly though, I didn't represent it as the best tv in the world. I didn't even represent it as the best picture for less than 2k.

For 1k though, I give it a vote for all around (pic/size/res) best.

Basically, all the various tv types are just tradeoff's. You have to decide what you care about most.

As for the various reviews on those bs websites . . . do you trust those websites to tell you what computer hardware is best for YOU? You probably don't and shouldn't - same applies to televisions. You should think of ranking a tv (or any product) as a combination of attribute score and weight. Those weights are something that only YOU can assign. Allowing some review website to decide what's important to you is just silly. Read the reviews, but don't put any stock in the final ratings. An example - ALL review sites will award/ding points depending on the number and variety of inputs that a tv set has. Personally, I use a single set of component inputs for a console and a single hdmi port that is fed with a computer. I don't use/require ANYTHING else.

I know that a major purchase that you spend many hours with a day can be tough. I suggest that you pick 2 televisions from each of the sectors (plasma/lcd/rp). Pick stuff that's in the same price range. Look at all those tubes in person and decide what's the best fit for you. For example, when you start comparing a plasma with 720p resolution to a lcd with 1080p resolution for less money, you will start to appreciate those tradeoffs.

Time for my personal opinions ( read . . I don't care to argue )

Check out the new sony LCOS sets. ~2k for 50" on a hot deal
Check out the Westinghouse lcd. ~1100 for 42" on a hot deal
If you are going to ever do htpc ( and you should ), stay away from plasma's. There are tons of reasons why. You should probably grab a 1080p set - they are to cheap not to.


Good Luck. In the end, you're gonna be happy with 90% of the market. Look around and get some ideas. Be patient and jump on something when you see it go CHEAP. Whatever you buy, it will depreciate faster than you want it to. That's life. Don't think that you are going to buy ahead of the depreciation curve. It doesn't happen and you waste money trying to do it.


Edit: One last thing. Don't trust the picture quality you see on a set at a retailer. Those sets are almost always horribly calibrated, and fed a piss-poor signal. Bring a wel configured laptop and a dvi/hdmi cable and ask to play with the set. Most places will let you do this..

 

[Lazarey]

I smell a flame war coming on.

I don't know enough to flame anybody, I was merely wondering what they thought about that review.

Edit: One last thing. Don't trust the picture quality you see on a set at a retailer. Those sets are almost always horribly calibrated, and fed a piss-poor signal. Bring a wel configured laptop and a dvi/hdmi cable and ask to play with the set. Most places will let you do this..

What if I don't have a laptop?


Thanks so much for helping me, I really appreciate it!

 

[bigforearms]

Check out the new sony LCOS sets. ~2k for 50" on a hot deal
...
If you are going to ever do htpc ( and you should ), stay away from plasma's. There are tons of reasons why. You should probably grab a 1080p set - they are to cheap not to.

Don't wanna threadjack too much, but if I were going for a very good HTPC display for movie watching and video games in the 40-50" range, would the LCOS rear projection sets be better than an LCD (assuming size wasn't important to me)?

And are plasmas no good for HTPC use because of the burn-in problem, or is there more to it?

 

[esturk]

The flame wouldn't come from you. It would come from someone who spent their hard-earned money on something other than what I "personally" recommended.

I don't mind helping at all.

The plasma's are "bad" in my opinion for several reasons . .
* Price/pixel or Price/size is RIDICULOUS compared to anything else
* The affordable plasma's are typically FAR FAR from the 1080p that the affordable lcd's/rp sets can provide
* Alot of plasmas have rectangular pixels. By that I mean that you'll see plasma sets with a resolution of 1024x768, despite the fact that the AR of the screen is 16:9 (ws). This can cause some problems when trying to feed it a signal from a htpc. You really want to get a 1:1 pixel mapping between what your videocard outputs and what the screen displays. The above can make this hard for many plasmas.


I personally love the lcos sets. I have the first Sony that came out. I paid a good deal of money for it and I'll defend it tooth and nail. So will anyone who coughed up dough for a tv. The LCOS sets can be very good for htpc use. That said, if you plan on gaming a good deal on a tv, I PERSONALLY might shoot for an LCD. The reason why is what's known as overscan. Basically, overscan is where the tv "overscans" the viewable area with the picture. It was done way back to eliminated the garbage that can appear on the edges of a reception. In games this often means that your health/lives/ammo appear off the screen. Now there are ways to fix this. There are entire webpages devoted to a program called powerstrip and things of this nature. You usually can NOT get a 1:1 pixel mapping when you start "fixing" overscan though. With an LCD though . . . there is no problem. Your BF2 plays just fine.

For me, the decision was made for me. At the time the sxrd was pretty much the only 1080p capable device. When you see 1080i/p content at 1080i/p and then you see that same material on a tv only capable of 720/768p, you'll be a 1080p convert. The other thing is that you can get a large (50 or 60") rp set at a substantially cheaper price than a large lcd.




Hope this helps some. I'm sorry I'm too lazy to quote and respond.

 

[esturk]

I just took the time to actually read more of your original post.

I'll give you more advice since it sounds like you need it.


"futureproof"
There is no such thing unfortunately. That said, DO NOT COUGH UP 1k+ and not get 1080P!!!!!!

Other advice:
Don't buy anything at a retail store unless you know you can't get it much cheaper online somehow. That said, use the hell out of those stores to check them all out.

Final Advice:
1080p in a lcos rp unit (jvc/sony), or a samsung dlp, or a sharp/westy lcd will make you happy. What I would do is to watch the deal sites (fatwallet DOT com and slickdeals DOT com). Watch those sites like a HAWK. When a hot deal comes around, grab it. You'll be very happy you did, and you can use the extra money to start buying htpc gear.

 

[sn3ak3rp1mp]

+1 on the Westinghouse LCD HDTVs. Excellent picture and feature set for the money IMHO. I shopped around quite a bit and had budget for more expensive displays, but ended up with the Westinghouse.

FWIW: If you really do have $2,000 to spend, pick up the Westinghouse 42" 1080p ... and then use the $900 or so left over to go out and get your Xbox360 + HD-DVD drive accessory! Shoot, you'll still have money left over for some games and some HD-DVD movies! Then get yourself a Netflix subscription and you can rent HD-DVDs via the mail!!

Cheers!
sn3ak3rp1mp

 

[Lazarey]

I personally love the lcos sets. I have the first Sony that came out. I paid a good deal of money for it and I'll defend it tooth and nail. So will anyone who coughed up dough for a tv. The LCOS sets can be very good for htpc use. That said, if you plan on gaming a good deal on a tv, I PERSONALLY might shoot for an LCD. The reason why is what's known as overscan. Basically, overscan is where the tv "overscans" the viewable area with the picture. It was done way back to eliminated the garbage that can appear on the edges of a reception. In games this often means that your health/lives/ammo appear off the screen. Now there are ways to fix this. There are entire webpages devoted to a program called powerstrip and things of this nature. You usually can NOT get a 1:1 pixel mapping when you start "fixing" overscan though. With an LCD though . . . there is no problem. Your BF2 plays just fine.

If someone were not going to use an HTPC, would your recommendations remain the same? Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have an HTPC, but I don't know that I will anytime soon.

Hope this helps some. I'm sorry I'm too lazy to quote and respond.

No problem! I just do it because it helps me organize what I want to say. I don't expect others to do the same.

FWIW: If you really do have $2,000 to spend, pick up the Westinghouse 42" 1080p ... and then use the $900 or so left over to go out and get your Xbox360 + HD-DVD drive accessory! Shoot, you'll still have money left over for some games and some HD-DVD movies! Then get yourself a Netflix subscription and you can rent HD-DVDs via the mail!!

I didn't want to say this because sometimes people are less prone to give advice to a teenager, but here's the deal:
I am 18 and my grandparents (who are wealthy) decided they wanted to get me a new TV because mine is going out. You have to act fast when they decide to get you something or they will think you don't want it. That is why I have to purchase the TV within the week (or sooner).
They have given me a budget of $900-$1300. I was already planning on getting a new TV myself, so I was planning on spending some money. So I figure that I can put around $700 of my money with their's and get a really nice $2000 TV. That's why I don't really want to get a $1000 TV. I have $1300 to work with (I know them, they won't mind a bit that I used the most money they offered), plus the money I had planned on spending.
I'll never have this kind of opportunity again, so I want to get a really great television that I'll be happy with for many years to come.

For me, the decision was made for me. At the time the sxrd was pretty much the only 1080p capable device. When you see 1080i/p content at 1080i/p and then you see that same material on a tv only capable of 720/768p, you'll be a 1080p convert. The other thing is that you can get a large (50 or 60") rp set at a substantially cheaper price than a large lcd.

So you think there is a big difference between between 1080p and 720p? I've never seen both, but I've read on CNET that you can't really tell the difference unless you get really close. No, I don't believe everything I read on CNET, I just wanted to know what you thought about that.

Other advice:
Don't buy anything at a retail store unless you know you can't get it much cheaper online somehow. That said, use the hell out of those stores to check them all out.

I understand that you can get better deals online, but isn't it easier to return things to a retail store? Just in case I get the TV home and I don't like it for some reason.

Final Advice:
1080p in a lcos rp unit (jvc/sony), or a samsung dlp, or a sharp/westy lcd will make you happy. What I would do is to watch the deal sites (fatwallet DOT com and slickdeals DOT com). Watch those sites like a HAWK. When a hot deal comes around, grab it. You'll be very happy you did, and you can use the extra money to start buying htpc gear.

Good advice and normally that's exactly what I would do, however like I said above, I don't have much time. And because you were nice enough to share those sites with me, I'll give you one I like as well: spoofee DOTcom

Wow, I just wrote a lot of stuff...

 

[esturk]

I think my advice would be pretty much the same. Search those sites and see what is going on at the retail stores right now. Get what you can afford and seems like a good deal.

It IS easier to return stuff to the store. That said, often times you can buy two online for what it costs in the store. One of them is bound to work.

If you are careful about what you are doing here, you can surely build a nice little htpc to get you going for <300. Hell, I've got some on loan I'd sell you myself.

Since it sounds like you are still at home and will be moving off to college or elsewhere soon, I might recommend an lcd. They are loads easier to move all over the place.

 

[Lazarey]

Thanks!

Have you had to replace the bulb on your rear projection TV yet? If so, how much did it cost and how difficult was it to do?

You said something about testing TVs at retail places with a laptop. What if I don't have a laptop?

The more I read and the more pictures I look at, the more I want a HTPC

I personally love the lcos sets. I have the first Sony that came out. I paid a good deal of money for it and I'll defend it tooth and nail. So will anyone who coughed up dough for a tv. The LCOS sets can be very good for htpc use. That said, if you plan on gaming a good deal on a tv, I PERSONALLY might shoot for an LCD. The reason why is what's known as overscan. Basically, overscan is where the tv "overscans" the viewable area with the picture. It was done way back to eliminated the garbage that can appear on the edges of a reception. In games this often means that your health/lives/ammo appear off the screen. Now there are ways to fix this. There are entire webpages devoted to a program called powerstrip and things of this nature. You usually can NOT get a 1:1 pixel mapping when you start "fixing" overscan though. With an LCD though . . . there is no problem. Your BF2 plays just fine.

Is "overscan" a common problem with rear projection?

 

[esturk]

I have not had to replace a bulb yet. I've had a 60" SXRD since Fall of 2005. Bulbs should last 2-3 years, depending on use and ambient temp. I think you can get them for ~100 and installing them isn't hard.

ALL rp that I know of overscan the picture. That said, it's not typically a problem since most of the content is made with that in mind. Games are a different story though, and you have to do some overscan control to get them going. That said, it's usually not a big deal. When you start doing this however, you won't get a 1:1 pixel mapping. That means there is a very small amount of distortion. It bothers some folks, others it doesn't. Personally, I leave my tv as is. I can easily adjust the videocard drivers/ power stip to give me little to no overscan if i want to. It's not worth it to me though. I don't game on that guy though, so I don't have that to contend with.

HTPC's are great. You can get a simple one going pretty cheap and add to it as you decide you want to.

If you don't have a laptop to test things out, you'll kind of have to wing it. Feel free to play with the colors and brightness at retail outlets. You will find that the brightness is cranked up too high, and most sets are too red.

If you pick one of those tv's I mentioned above, you can't really go wrong.

Go look at:

50 and 60 inch LCOS 1080p sets from sony and maybe jvc
42 and 47 inch 1080p sets from westinghouse
1080p dlp's from samsung

I honestly don't think you can go wrong with any of these. You'll be very happy with any imo.

Ahh and yes. Those televisions look much bigger by themselves in your little living room.


It takes a trained eye to sort through all the bs . . . but if you cruise on over to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ you can see what folks think about these sets.
Basically, remember that folks that are unhappy are twice as likely to make a post complaining than someone that is happy. Also, just sort out the best 20% and worst 20% of what you hear. The truth is somewhere in between.
Lastly remember the rule, "I paid my hard money for it . . .so it's the best and I'm gonna defend it tooth and nail".

 

[piako]

720p projector is all I would ever recommend. DLP is amazing. I have a optoma H31. My screen size is about 100 inches. I think the biggest it can get is ~250. I will own a TV again never.

 

[esturk]

It is not a bad recommendation. I thought about it last night after making the above reply.

I wouldn't recommend it as substitute for a tv for this guy imo opinion though.

I did see a sony sxrd projector at christmas. 1080p craziness. It was beautiful to behold, for a mere 10k or some such.

 

[gimpy]

If you have $2k to spend you could do something like I did.
I purchased a 37" Westy for about $875 and a Mits HD1000u projector for $865
The Westy gets used when I'm not actively watching anything and the projector when I plan on sitting down and watching something.

 

[erebus720]

Estruk : The sony pearl is definetly a nice projector

As to the OP... I too use a 32" lcd, the sceptre komodo works great no issues i find the colors to be decent. In the evening, or whenever I want Ill switch on one of the projectors - which gives everyone a nice big wow factor If you can stretch your budget you can pickup the panny ptax100u for around $1300 after rebate. Pair it with a good lcd and your all set.

 

[Lazarey]

Not really interested in a projector because there's only one room in the house that we watch TV and we do that during the day and at night. So I couldn't have a LCD in one room and a projector in another. Good suggestions though!

I stopped by Circuit City last night after work and had a quick look at the massive walls of TVs
I'm still having trouble deciding between LCD and rear projection. I like that you can get a bigger rear-pro for less money, but esturk said that they have overscan problems if you are gaming with them.
I read that LCoS rear projections have a risk of screen burn in, is this true? If so, how likely is it?

I like that LCDs don't have overscan, but you get a smaller screen for more money. I don't like that you have limited viewing angles with an LCD. Then again, maybe rear projections are that way too. This TV buying stuff is taking a toll on my health

I've pretty much abandoned plasmas since 1080p ones are so expensive.

Well, I'm off today so I guess I'll make the trip into Dallas and look at more TVs.

 

[esturk]

Dallas eh . ..

I'm a college student south of dallas . . .. Public school.

Cruise on over to Frys and look around at what they have.

Overscan is not a HUGE issue. If it's gonna mean a significant difference in size, I wouldn't worry about it. When you think you know what rp unit you might like, look online and see what overscan adjustments the tv has.

 

[Lazarey]

What are the odds? I live outside of Greenville (about 45 minutes east of Dallas).

Do you have any problems with screen burn in with your LCoS TV? Since I'll be watching standard def programming I don't want the black bars on the sides to get burned in...

 

[rayman2k2]

yeah, too bad the Cowboys suck.




regardless of how crappy Tony Homo is, I currently have a 61" Samsung 1080p DLP and LOVE it. The decision was between it and the Sony LCoS tv. In the end I liked the clarity of the Samsung better....just my $0.02.


But like people in this thread have said, look at the Sony LCOS sets, the sets from westinghouse or the dlp's from samsung.

What are the odds? I live outside of Greenville (about 45 minutes east of Dallas).

Do you have any problems with screen burn in with your LCoS TV? Since I'll be watching standard def programming I don't want the black bars on the sides to get burned in...

Nah, you wont get any burn-in

 

[Lazarey]

I went to Fry's and Sam's Club yesterday. Wasn't to happy with Fry's. The had a good selection but I guess whatever it was that they were displaying wasn't very good or something because almost all of the flat panels had these very obvious lines around whatever was moving on screen. Quite annoying. It wasn't as bad with the rear projections. Why do you think that is?

Anyway, I couldn't really make a good judgment on any of the TVs, so the trip was pretty much wasted. Except for the fact that I realized I would be perfectly happy with something in the 40s (I had previously thought I wanted 50 or larger).

Sam's didn't have much of a selection, though they did have some Vizios that looked good. What do you guys think about those? They also had a 46" Westinghouse, but it was only 720p. I didn't see the 42" 1080p you all were telling me about. Fry's didn't have any Westys that I saw.

The only other electronics place left is Best Buy, so I guess I'll go by there. So far I like Circuit City the best. Good picture on all the TVs and friendly sales people (as opposed to Fry's, who were unfriendly and couldn't speak ENGLISH!).

 

[rantanamo]

what helped me much more than going to any store was actually setting a price and then looking over what people on AVSforum had to day about specific models. Even the sets I bought look like crap at the stores, but look great at home.

 

[esturk]

rant there is right.

Set your price and read the reviews on avsforum. I can't say that I wouldn't have gotten a 1080p DLP over the LCOS set. When I was buying there were NO 1080P dlp sets, so I didn't investigate them. I've bee pretty impressed with the samsung's since though.

Vizio does'nt have a good track record honestly. I'll link you to some good sets.

I know I have harped on 1080p . . . but ~35 inches and below is where I'd start thinking for most situations 1080p is not a MUST have. I think that might make sense to you now that you've looked around a bit.

Yes, that Fry's in Garland is pretty crappy. I always go in there and think all the sets are crap. One feed split ten thousand ways IS crappy. They also have directv/dish alot of time. You'll hear folks refer to that as HDLite.

more later. . .

 

[Lazarey]

rant there is right.

Set your price and read the reviews on avsforum. I can't say that I wouldn't have gotten a 1080p DLP over the LCOS set. When I was buying there were NO 1080P dlp sets, so I didn't investigate them. I've bee pretty impressed with the samsung's since though.

what helped me much more than going to any store was actually setting a price and then looking over what people on AVSforum had to day about specific models. Even the sets I bought look like crap at the stores, but look great at home.

When I go to AVS the amount of information is a little overwhelming. Is there a specific area I should look at?

Vizio does'nt have a good track record honestly. I'll link you to some good sets.

Thanks!

I know I have harped on 1080p . . . but ~35 inches and below is where I'd start thinking for most situations 1080p is not a MUST have. I think that might make sense to you now that you've looked around a bit.

I don't think I'll get somthing that small. I was just meaning that I no longer think I HAVE to have a 50" or above. I don't think I'll go below 40". Then again, if there is a really great 30something TV, I would definitely consider it (then I'd have more money to put into surround sound, a HTPC, Xbox 360, ect ).

Yes, that Fry's in Garland is pretty crappy. I always go in there and think all the sets are crap. One feed split ten thousand ways IS crappy. They also have directv/dish alot of time. You'll hear folks refer to that as HDLite.

more later. . .

Glad to know it's not just me

 

[esturk]

Allright.

Have a look at the following sets:
http://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173916&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173924&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KDS-50A2...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173936&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KDS-60A2...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173936&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HL-S5...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173961&sr=8-5
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HL-S5...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173961&sr=8-8
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HL-S6...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1178173961&sr=8-10


You can't go wrong with any of those sets. They are all nice.

It may take a minute for you to get your bearings on AVSforum. What I would do is to search the forums for the set names above.

For any tv worth buying ( just about ), there will be a thread called:
"The OFFICIAL TV X owners thread"

Find those threads and have a look see.

For the dlp's look in the dlp section.
For the lcd's the lcd section.
And so on.


For example:
47" westy:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=678038&highlight=LVM47W1
sony lcos
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=701578&highlight=A2000