Thinking of Buying HD TV

[Mr Light]

Tomorrow Target will be having a sale: Sylvania 32" LCD HD-TV for $300. We were thinking about finally breaking down and getting one. We have a standard thick set 29" TV.

I was wondering if this is worth it? We don't have Blu-Ray we just have DVD. We have an X-Box 360 (and I can't read the goddamn screen text with my standard def TV!).

I'm just wondering if there's really that huge a difference between a normal TV and this. I stare at the tvs in the store and I just don't know.

 

[Mr. B]

If you have a 360 I would say a high-def set is worth it, but I personally wouldn't buy an off brand like Sylvania. At the very least you should get a Visio... Philips or Samsung would be better.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Personally, I have had bad luck with them. I own two - a 60 inch that I've had for just shy of 5 years...and a 40 inch which I have had for about 2.5 years. One was about $4,300 brand new (long story here - I'd NEVER do this again, no matter how much I loved the guy who wanted it), the other about $400 brand new.

Both are broken (through no fault of mine - I am good to my TVs). And in both cases, the repair guys tell me it would be less expensive to buy one brand new than to fix the ones sitting in my home.

Meanwhile, the 29-inch Sony TV I have had for 20 YEARS works just fine. Never had a single problem with it.

I really don't know what to do, since I really need a new TV, but have no interest in getting another HD. At least in my personal experience of 2 of these things, they are not built to last.

I mean, a TV should last more than 2.5 to 5 years, I would think.

I'd move the 29-inch, 20-year old Sony upstairs from the basement and be done with the whole issue, but since it's so old, it doesn't have ports for all the modern components. I think there is only one or two slots, and I need at least 3 - for the satellite, the DVD player, and the Tivo.

 

[Mr Light]

I thought I read somewhere that Visio was a cheap generic brand of horrible quality? Yeah TVs should last for sure... My 29" I've had for six years without a single problem and the little one in my bedroom is about a decade old.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Well, in my case, the 60-inch, 5-year old broken TV is a Sony. I had the lamp replaced for like $350...but now the guy says the engine is going. Little blue dots all over the screen, and more all the time. Also slower and slower to turn on all the time.

The smaller broken one upstairs in the bedroom was purchased at Best Buy - I can't remember the brand. It's not 'top of the line' - I mean, I was buying it for the BEDROOM, fer cryin' out loud! But it's not a cheapo off-brand either. That one now takes about 30 minutes to warm up and show a picture. Before that, I get a spectrum of rainbow colors and lots of sound...but no picture at all for at least 1/2 hour. Not idea for spur-of-the-moment bedtime viewing. Takes longer for the picture to come on than I would spend actually WATCHING the thing before turning it off to go to bed!

I don't know...maybe you will have more luck than I've had. But if I could buy a modern version of my 20-year old TV, only with more slots, I'd happily buy it, and forget about this HD silliness for good.

I just think a TV should last. Call me 'old fashioned' that way.

 

[nevermore]

I have a Vizio, as do at least 3 other people I know. I've had mine for about 2.5 year, good picture and sound. No complaints. I researched the purchase and chose it because it was the best-reviewed set for the price range I was willing to spend, actually.

ETA: The difference between an old low-res set and HD is enormous, especially with dark shots and such.

 

[Holdfast]

Tomorrow Target will be having a sale: Sylvania 32" LCD HD-TV for $300. We were thinking about finally breaking down and getting one. We have a standard thick set 29" TV.

I was wondering if this is worth it? We don't have Blu-Ray we just have DVD. We have an X-Box 360 (and I can't read the goddamn screen text with my standard def TV!).

I'm just wondering if there's really that huge a difference between a normal TV and this. I stare at the tvs in the store and I just don't know.

I'm kind of in exactly the same place as you dude.

I have a 36" Sony CRT that I'm very happy with, and only DVD (as as for games consoles, I only have an old Xbox that almost never gets played rather than one of the current generation). But I keep thinking that at some stage in the future, I'll have to upgrade to HD and Bluray. To be honest, I've decided to hold off until there's an active need. If you're as content with SD CRT and DVD as I am, I'd save a few bucks and wait. We'll end up paying eventually, but I can't see much point in rushing at this stage.

 

[Skywalker]

I have a 42" LG that's in excellent shape, and from what I've heard LG makes pretty good quality TVs. My experience is a little different though, I only paid $400 for mine because I bought it from a friend. It probably would have cost at least double that at a store.

Whatever you decide, I'd wait until after the holidays to buy one, when the stores are slashing prices to make room for holiday overstock and for next year's models. I also wouldn't bother with any TV that doesn't support 1080p, but some people are perfectly okay with 720p. I've found some 1080p HDTVs that were cheaper than 720p HDTVs and yet they were made by the same company, though.

 

[Marc]

Well, in my case, the 60-inch, 5-year old broken TV is a Sony. I had the lamp replaced for like $350...but now the guy says the engine is going. Little blue dots all over the screen, and more all the time. Also slower and slower to turn on all the time.

The smaller broken one upstairs in the bedroom was purchased at Best Buy - I can't remember the brand. It's not 'top of the line' - I mean, I was buying it for the BEDROOM, fer cryin' out loud! But it's not a cheapo off-brand either. That one now takes about 30 minutes to warm up and show a picture. Before that, I get a spectrum of rainbow colors and lots of sound...but no picture at all for at least 1/2 hour. Not idea for spur-of-the-moment bedtime viewing. Takes longer for the picture to come on than I would spend actually WATCHING the thing before turning it off to go to bed!

I don't know...maybe you will have more luck than I've had. But if I could buy a modern version of my 20-year old TV, only with more slots, I'd happily buy it, and forget about this HD silliness for good.

I just think a TV should last. Call me 'old fashioned' that way.

The biggest problem is that CRTs just can't efficiently scale up to the sort of screen sizes you get with the LCDs and Plasmas - you wind up with this massive unit because of the tube size.

Given that 20 and 24" CRT monitors could be drive to to what we'd called HD resolutions or highter (think they topped about about 1900x1600 it's been a long time since I looked at them) there's no reason why you couldn't make a HD CRT (in fact I think there might of been some in the early days - it just comes back to the tube size).

I'm not familiar enough with Plasma screens but the life limited for the LCDs screens has alwasy been the backlight for the panel. Theoretlically they could be a comparitavely inexpesnive to replace part but that's something manufacturers don't want plus with the way prices are coming down on LCDs tv's it does become a question of viablity.

On the matter of prices - there's only a limited number of manufactuers for LCD panels in the world and 6 of them have been busted for price fixing (Supplying to U.S companies must of brought them under U.S) and so far the fines have totalled $US860mil. Now this was for offences 3 years ago but it could mean that we'll see more competition in that market and possible further price drops (unless the panel prices drop but the retail prices down as the manufacturers simply use it to increase their margins).

 

[Mr Light]

What's the difference between Plasma and LCD anyway? In the store the Plasma screen basically looks darker and it's more expensive.

 

[Snaploud]

I got a $550 JVC D-Series 32 inch component input tube tv around nine years ago. I've never had any problems, and the picture and sound quality are still great for any normal DVDs or digital cable.

 

[Marc]

What's the difference between Plasma and LCD anyway? In the store the Plasma screen basically looks darker and it's more expensive.

The technology behind them. LCDs use the same technology as laptop displays.

Now days it's TFT (thin film transistor iirc) where for each pixel there's a transistor that controls it which is what gives them them speed. The drawbacks to LCDs is they need a light source behind them which have evolved over time (the newest technology is LED).

Plasma tv's use a gases containted in tiny cells to produce the image as the gases change to plasma when a voltage is applied to them (when it was used as a screen technology in portable computers, it was sometimes referred to as Gas Plasma display). It's an older technology and which is better is a bit of a religious argument with both having pros and cons.

As to the plasma looking darker in the sci-tech forum there's a thread called "plasma looks darker in store" - it's a worthwhile read because it's directly addressing the issue.

 

[Mr Light]

Well based on this thread we decided to wait to get a HD TV. Hopefully we can find something good and cheap in the post-Christmas period. Thanks for the help guys n' girls!

 

[Starbreaker]

Ummm... go buy it. I have a 32" Element... had never heard of it before and have not been disappointed. You're not going to see another 32" for $300 in a long time.

 

[Amaris]

I have a 42" LG that's in excellent shape, and from what I've heard LG makes pretty good quality TVs. My experience is a little different though, I only paid $400 for mine because I bought it from a friend. It probably would have cost at least double that at a store.

Whatever you decide, I'd wait until after the holidays to buy one, when the stores are slashing prices to make room for holiday overstock and for next year's models. I also wouldn't bother with any TV that doesn't support 1080p, but some people are perfectly okay with 720p. I've found some 1080p HDTVs that were cheaper than 720p HDTVs and yet they were made by the same company, though.

Yeah, if you can get a 1080p for decent prices, go for it. I have a 22/23" AOC that I got for a bargain at $150. I love this television, and the picture quality is superb. It may not be 1080p, but at 22/23", 720p is fantastic!

I think it looks good:

J.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I like to have both. I've got a standard def tv in my "guest room" that I like to use for old game systems or old movies and shows that are too grainy to really enjoy on the lcd in the livingroom.