Best TV for $2,000?

June 10, 2007 | MississippiMasterpiece

[MississippiMasterpiece]

I've been setting aside money for a new HDTV and have about $2,000 to spend. Would appreciate any recommendations from Freepers that have made recent purchases. Obviously, I'd like the biggest screen for my buck, but am most interested in picture clarity.

[DB]

Costco.

Best price, best warranty.

[goldstategop]

The choice is clear: a Sony Bravia LCD TV. I have the 40" set and I'm very happy with mine. For $2,0000 you can't go wrong with Sony. Its simply value for your HDTV dollars.

[AlexW]

I would not pay $20 for a TV.
What do you want to see? Baba WaWa? Perky Korupt?
Dan Blather? Fancy Polozzzi? Stupid sitcoms?
Alphabet garbage? Oh, I know, you lust for Rozy O DooDoo

There is nothing on TV worth two cents, much less $2000.

[MississippiMasterpiece]

Not sure why you felt the need to insult me or hijack the thread, but have a nice day anyway.

[AlexW]

“Not sure why you felt the need to insult me or hijack the thread, but have a nice day anyway.”

I was being facetious, as I do not watch the boob tube. Don’t take it so hard.
I agree, you will not go wrong with Sony.
Now, you have a good day.

[Trteamer]

I kind of like that show on crab fishing, it’s cool.

[Mikey_1962]

Well get used to that crab show.

The truth is there is little to chose from in HDTV: either its live sports, or documetntaries.

[SamAdams76]

I agree there is little on TV but I do watch a lot of football, DVDs of select movies and DVD sets of the occasional TV show that is good (like "24" or "The Shield"). So I only have one TV and I made sure it was a good one. It was a 60" HDTV Sony Wega. Spend nearly $5,000 (including oak cabinet to put it on) but it's been worth it. Stunning picture quality.

That was two years ago and they have since dropped dramatically in price. Now you can get a 60 inch set for under $3,000.

I would definitely spend the extra money because the additional screen space makes all the difference.

[Logic n' Reason]

What’s second best? No Costco where I live.

[Red_Devil 232]

I bought a Panasonic Plasma 50 inch at Sam’s in Meridian. It was $1,900 and change. I am not a vediofile and could care less about all the hype for or against LCD - Plasma. I like the picture, good from any angle and it mounts on the wall which saves a lot of space.

[Tarpon]

I have been ogling the new Samsungs at Walmart, 40” is about $1500, the ones with the PC port. With IPTV just around the corner, you may want to make sure your next display is PC connectible.

Been a big fan of Sony for the longest while, but lately Sony has been going down hill and the prices been going up hill. After buying a Samsung 22 widescreen monitor last Christmas, became a Samsung fan... excellent quality displays. The new displays are top notch in my book, and to my old eyes.

In any event, you likely want to make sure it tunes digital QAM signals so you can direct attach to digital cable without a cable company box and the attendant fee. The law forcing the cable companies to support un-bundling the set top box and enabling cable cards goes into effect July 1, 2007, so waiting a few weeks and see what develops might be wise.

[Lokibob]

Here is a suggestion:

Go to a place where they have a wall full of TV’s. Best buy is one of them, WalMart another. Look at the TV’s and pick out the ones you like (picture quality, features, etc), but ignore price. Write down the make, model number, size. (If the clerk asks why you are writing it down, tell them that you want to check consumer reports, which isn’t too far of a stretch of the truth) Come home a google the model numbers to get a review and more importantly , get the best price. Do NOT forget EBAY as a resource.

Remember when looking at a price point, what you will spend in shipping on line will be made up by NOT paying the sales tax on it, so it will be a wash, or close to it.

If you do not like any of my suggestions, I’m happy with that, but it is what I would do.

.....Bob

[AlexW]

“I kind of like that show on crab fishing, it’s cool.”

Yes, there are plenty of fun programs on satellite TV.
I was in electronics all of my life, and sold the old C Band
satellite systems back in the 80s.

As for TV quality, I have always preferred the Jap name brands. Just so I am not accused of hijacking the thread, my last remarks are "let your fingers do the walking". There are numerous sites that rate the new TV sets, as well as discount price outlets.

[Lokibob]

Since you live in Bratislava, Slovakia, I can see where you get the idea that there isn’t much on American TV. I disagree. There are a lot of educational and political shows and news shows well worth MY time.

In addition I love to watch NASCAR and football. Fox has started bringing sat afternoon baseball back and I’m kinda watching that, also.

Commercial TV, not much there, but the cable/satellite has a wealth of good programming. BTW, cspan, news, nasatv etc.

.....Bob

[TexasAg1996]

I’d highly recommend a JVC HD-ILA. You can probably get a 60” or so TV for around $2000. It’s the equivalent of the Sony SXRD-brand TVs. It’s a LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). It’s got 3 1920x1080 chips in it (red, blue, and green, I think), so it gives you true HD resolution. It also doesn’t have problems with rainbows that DLPs have or burn-in like plasmas do (although both problems have gotten significantly better). The JVC is one of the best TVs I saw when looking for a new one. Check out avsforum for all the info you’d ever need.

[Fire_on_High]

I’ll second the recommendation for Samsung. I also have one of their LCD monitors and it’s gorgeous.

[AlexW]

“Commercial TV, not much there,”

Yes, that was my point. There are decent programs on satellite, but the ABC/CBS/NBC/PBS is pure excrement.

[ulm1]

Consumer Reports lists SAMSUNG LCD or Plasmas as #1