What TV should I buy?

[navysealdad]

Wife's TV went out. Looking for a 42 in or bigger LCD or Plasma. Any ideals what brand you would recommended.

[tommix2]

19" LCD monitor and a TV .card/USB deviceThank you I'll probably do that

[Paladin2]

Yea, I had some TV cards for my computers from 1994 through ~2005.

They worked fine and were kind'a cool. Now that analog TV is gone, I'd have to hook up some of those US gov't supplied converter boxes. Maybe next summer after the upcoming ski season.

[FTJM]

A friend on mine is in the business; he recommends a 1080p LCD or LCD/LED.

Best TV: Samsung, but not the cheapest.

Best value: Mitsubishi.

He suggests that you to go to the store and really watch the TVs and see which screen you really like.

[bmwcyle]

freep mail if you have questions

[bmwcyle]

I has increased the speed of my home network. I go to work and it is like being on dial-up.

[TomGuy]

This $80/cable stuff is clearly profit center business model ripoffs.

When I got my Digital TV, I searched online for HDMI cables. I found a pack of 3 for around $12 (IIRC). Many other places were charging around $30 per cable.

[Ann Archy]

hanks....I appreciate that!

[ctdonath2]

1080I vs. 1080P. ... consider your vision - you may not be able to see a difference.

Then there's some of us cursed with not only the ability to see the difference, but to explain which combination of technical reasons causes the visual imperfection.

Drives my wife nuts: [looks at big display of 2 dozen HDTVs] "I don't see any difference, just pick one!" me: "well, this one bugs me because the SuperFlowMo(tm) only kicks in occasionally, making portions of the movie distractingly smoother than the rest, which obviously was shot with 720i and then upscaled to 1080p, which is confusing the local upscaling subsystem for source material..." her: "AAAARRGH! I'm going to buy a book." me: "NOOOO...."

[ctdonath2]

look almost like 3-D

And that's the next thing to confuse the subject: 3D HDTVs will arrive not long from now.

[TalonDJ]

Sharp LCD. And buy online and save a ton. We love our 52”

[TalonDJ]

Are projection TV’s worth looking at?

not unless you want to spend more money for less resolution. Last I checked 1080 projectors are far more than a nice 40 or 50+ inch LCD

[Genoa]

What make do you recommend for occasional use?

Mrs. Genoa and I recommend the cheapest one you can find.

[woodbutcher1963]

First of all. MOST people can not see the difference.
Their vision is just not good enough.
I have 20/10 vision and I could barely tell the difference on a 50”. Most people could never tell on a 37” or 42”.
Secondly, very few people use their tv as a computer monitor. Most people watch cable or satelite tv and movies.
None of those come close to 1080P unless you have a Blueray.
Now, you may be the exception. I know 3 friends who own 50” Pioneer Plasmas that they paid over $5000 for. Two of them also own Pansonic 42” 720p plasma tvs. Panasonic makes the screens for Pioneer now. The technology is changing so fast on this that by next year everything we own will be old technology.

[Paladin2]

Their vision is just not good enough.

Depends on how close one sits. I find it quite easy to distinguish with the grass textures of athletic fields.

[Rum Tum Tugger]

You can’t go wrong with an Admiral, Sylvania or Zenith.

[Made In The USA]

Ha! My wife refuses to shop with me for these kind of things. She knows I’ll analyze it to death and jokes with me about needing a spreadsheet just to pick toppings for our pizza.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Black Friday web sites are now active.

Here are two web sites you may find interesting;
http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/
and sister site
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/

You will also need to check on the suggest viewing distance for these tv’s, A large screen HDTV may suggest only a few feet, formulas “will” vary.

http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/HDTV_Viewing_Distance.htm
http://www.cnet.com/hdtv-viewing-distance/
http://hdguru.com/hdtv-seating-distance-chart/6/ and several other sites.

If you search keyword = hdtv, you will find most of the HD threads.

[RobRoy]

This is critical: Go to a store that can show you the various “smooth motion” type of features. One easy way to spot it is that some have scrolling lettering along the bottom of the screen and split screen. One side is the unprocessed signal and the other is the processed signal. The words should be pretty blurry on the unprocessed side but noticeably sharper on the processed side.

I saw this in action during a clip of WallE where the camera moved along the side of the luxury spaceship. the unprocessed signal was blurry and jerky. The other side was smooth and clear, almost like being there. It was DRAMATICALLY better.

This would really matter with things like movies and football.

[surfer]

For the money...you can’t beat this one:

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=446956

Vizio true-LED...LCD with LED backlighting...

But instead of buying a TV you should buy some silver. :)

[Riley]

I just today bought the Panasonic 46” Class Viera 1080p Plasma HDTV, TC-P46U1 on sale at Wal-Mart for $788. I went in at 8:00 this morning looking to get the Sharp 46” LCD that was on sale for $498, but they were all already spoken for. It’s a little bit of a financial stretch to get this TV, but I lugged it home, unpacked it and set it up, and I’m blown away. Good sound, great picture. I apparently don’t have HDMI output from my FIOS box, so I just piped the co-ax into it, and all is happy.

And the cat just *loves* the box and packaging. :-)