Need advice in buying a new TV...

[Scout101]

another suggestion would be (and dunno if it would work with your room setup) to put the couch in the middle of the room facing the tv, which would create a 'tv area' and a 'play area' behind that. 20 ft away is a lot for tv watching. But yes, a 55-60" DLP tv definitely sounds like your best bet. And instead of being worried about the USB ports, plug in a laptop or an old PC and use that for movie and/or picture viewing. You'll be happier with the results, and as I said, if you get a VGA cable to connect them with, it'll look exactly like a monitor for your computer...

 

[zephramc]

...

Best bet is stay with brand names - Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Sony are all good bets. I'm not so crazy about Vizeo or Olivia.

...

The brand name TVs you listed are all very good. I just want to add that we have an Olevia 32" LCD in our bedroom, that's been operating for over two years now. I would estimate that it's on 6-8 hours a day, everyday. The picture is very clear. The colors are very vibrant. The blacks are decent.

The only thing I dislike about the TV is the annoying bright blue LED, that turns on when the TV is turned to off/standby. At night it seemed like a floodlight was shining in my eyes. I ended up putting black tape over the thing.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Certain TVs allow you to play pictures and/or mp3s from USB flash drives.

More than that...I know of several friends that have wired their TV's into their pc's...of course they have terrabytes of, uh, for grown up's only material on their hard drives (no pun intended), but there you go...saves on storage space I suppose.

I use my AppleTV for this purpose.

 

[Morpheus 02]

So what kind of target price should I look for after Thanksgiving?

For a 46"?

50"?

55"?

60"?


Thanks..

 

[BigFoot]

^

I have no idea about prices in US, but I agree with everyone saying you should get a big TV. I sit 8 feet away from mine, and I got a 46" LCD. I would have gotten a 52", but I don't have the room for it.

So yeah, I agree with Scout101 that you should look at DLPs. They're much more stable compared to LCDs and plasmas (so your child won't be able to knock it over) and they're also much cheaper. As for size... I'd suggest you got for a 60" if you can afford.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

So what kind of target price should I look for after Thanksgiving?

..

Here is a quote from editors of Dealnews, they track sales and prices year round --

We spent a lot of time comparing current price trends on TVs this year with the trends that led up to Black Friday of last year. Our conclusion is, if you've been waiting to upgrade your TV, this holiday season is the time to do it. With the switch to digital broadcasting looming, retailers will be pulling out all of the stops for your HDTV dough. If you're on a budget, consider a plasma display instead of an LCD display — inch for inch, they tend to be cheaper. In fact, we predict a 42" 720p plasma HDTV for as little as $499. A $699 50" plasma HDTV is also quite likely, although we're not expecting huge discounts on larger plasma screens.

LCD prices will remain higher than plasma, but they'll still dip considerably, with generic 42" 720p LCD HDTVs going for $599. Additionally, look for name-brand 46" or 47" 1080p LCD HDTVs to hit $799, and larger 52" 1080p HDTVs to drop to $1,199.

Before you buy a TV on Black Friday, consider this: Last year, the best time to buy a good TV wasn't on Black Friday. It was three weeks before Christmas. At that time, Fry's and Amazon went to war on high-end LCD HDTVs (most notably Samsung 1080p 120Hz LCD TVs from 40" and up), slashing prices again and again. You know it's a big deal when dealnews' own cheapskate editors bring out their wallets and start buying TVs. The general rule is, Black Friday is the best time of the year to buy no-name TVs. December is the best time to buy high-end TVs.

Summary: Black Friday Predictions for LCD & Plasma TVs

42" 720p plasma HDTV for $499
50" 720p plasma HDTV for $699
42" 720p LCD HDTVs for $599
46" or 47" brand-name 1080p LCD HDTVs for $799
52" 1080p HDTVs for $1,199​

 

[Scout101]

not really a target price point so much as what you want and can afford. As I've said, I think DLP is the best solution for your setup, so read reviews (avsforum.com is an excellent resource) and pick the model you think is the best, and the right size (really 55"-60" sounds right for your setup), and then check out the websites of the electronics companies in the area so you can get an idea of prices. When it goes lower (and agree that December is probably better than Thanksgiving), buy it.

 

[Morpheus 02]

So does anyone have any thoughts as to to timing (i.e. which day in December, before Christmas) should i look to buy?

And where to buy? i am leaning to Best Buy, as I have a coupon & gift cards...are there any other thoughts?

Some factors in mind....we spend a lot of time at work (or traveling back & forth) & have a child...so we don't have as much freedom timewise then in other situations.

Thanks for your thoughts....

 

[S. Gomez]

I hope you don't mind, Morpheus, if I pop in with a question of my own.

Our TV has just died (we think; there's a possibility it might come back), but there isn't exactly a lot of money in the bank and we can't afford anything much more than CDN$500; $699 would probably be just pushing it. From the small amount of browsing online, that looks to mean a 720p set. Is it really such a crappy deal if we got one of those instead of a 1080? We aren't looking at a Blu-Ray player in the near future, so right now it would only be up-converting from a standard DVD player.

ETA: Oh, and it would be a 30-35" screen. Don't really need bigger than that.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Honestly, 1080p on anything smaller then 40" is totally useless (unless you're gonna be watching it from like four feet away). So yeah, get a 720p set and don't worry about it.

 

[Velocity]

When I was buying a new tv, a friend of mine told me to avoid the tv's that have a shiny frame because it reflects from the screen and is distracting.

 

[BigFoot]

^ It depends on how glossy the bezel is. Mine is a bit glossy, but it's not at all distracting.

 

[Kryton]

I removed the "protective" layer of sheen from mine.

 

[the_wildcard]

I noticed that the glossy bezel tend to attract more dust, lol.

 

[BigFoot]

^ That they do, yeah.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Any new deals we ought to be aware of, or looking forward to?

 

[melancholymecha]

hey I have a dumb question, is there any way to hook up speakers to a plasma/lcd without having to use one of those audio recievers? My grandparents just moved in with us & I will no longer be able to listen to music from the computer in the living room, I will have to go to my bedroom & use my dvd player(I use cds). I have a regular tube tv now but I might get a plasma later this year.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

hey I have a dumb question, is there any way to hook up speakers to a plasma/lcd without having to use one of those audio recievers? My grandparents just moved in with us & I will no longer be able to listen to music from the computer in the living room, I will have to go to my bedroom & use my dvd player(I use cds). I have a regular tube tv now but I might get a plasma later this year.

Some TVs do have speaker outputs, I think. Check the rear panel.