James Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Hey videophiles............last week my trusty old Mitsubishi TV finally blew it's picture tube. Due to my relative poverty at the moment, I'm not rushing out to replace it ---- esp. since I've got a backlog of books to read. That being said, I'd be interested in suggestions for a HD TV in the 700 clam price range. Under different circumstances I'd be willing to go higher, but since money is tight and I eventually want to add speakers (including subwoofer) I have to hold to the $700, or $800 at the highest for a significantly better value. Ideas? Any and all input highly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I have a Sony Bravia HDTV ($700 at Best Buy), with a LCD screen, for HD it goes 720pi. I happen to like it very much, with my viewing habits centering 90% on sports. If you're a sports person, HD is the only way to go, I love how basketball & baseball look on HD. I've hooked up the tv to my stereo system, and it works very well. The one caveat I have is that the non-HD picture could be better on a LCD screen, but the HD does look very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Thanks for your thoughts, Matthew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 James, I recently bought a 50-inch Samsung plasma, 1080 pi. I love this thing. Super clean picture and colors that knock your sox off. Like Matthew, I'm a big TV sports fan. I am really excited about seeing MLB on this big boy. At any rate, needless to say, I highly recommend Samsung. The best place I found to for big screens was Best Buy on line. A great source of unbiased reviews is www.cnet.com. I spent an awful lot of time on that website before I made my decision. You'll also find a lot of good reviews from buyers on Amazon. The most important piece of advice I can give you is to take your time. Good luck. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) I have two Sony Bravia tvs, one in the living room (32") and one in the bedroom (26"). The bedroom tv may be the same as Matthew's, it was about the same price. I'm entirely satisfied with both tvs and would recommend them highly. The sound is excellent from these (for the money)--both via their speakers and through the stereo system. Edited January 4, 2009 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Thank you, Dave & jazzbo Dave --- a plasma is definitely not in my price range, but thanks for the advice that follows. If I'm not mistaken, a plasma is fairly expensive up front, and expensive down the road when the plasma needs to be replaced.......no? I'm certainly in no rush on this purchase. jazzbo --- your info. regarding the good sound of the Bravia is very useful, since I'll be relying on the tv sound for some time before I pull the trigger on speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 1) Get the biggest set you can for your budget - you'll appreciate it later. 2) Plasmas are much more affordable now; you might be surprised what you can get, so don't discount them yet. 3) Another good on-line source is Amazon. Great prices, and you can often get free shipping and no sales tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Be sure to get a color set. Last time I bought one, this was a revelation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Panasonic TX32LX75 . We have been very happy with this LCD set, the pic quality and sound are both great. Using an HDMI connector, dvds look great. I tend to watch a lot of MPEG-4 and they too look superbly sharp and clear. A big improvement over our previous Hitachi. BTW, wasn't there a recent thread covering the same topic ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Thank you, Dave & jazzbo Dave --- a plasma is definitely not in my price range, but thanks for the advice that follows. If I'm not mistaken, a plasma is fairly expensive up front, and expensive down the road when the plasma needs to be replaced.......no? I'm certainly in no rush on this purchase. jazzbo --- your info. regarding the good sound of the Bravia is very useful, since I'll be relying on the tv sound for some time before I pull the trigger on speakers. They have made great strides over the last few years with plasma sets. Replacement is not anywhere near the issue it used to be. And, as RDK mentions, the cost is a lot less than you might imagine. Great strides in that area as well. I went with plasma because of sports. There tends to be less "bleeding" when there is motion involved. Plasmas recalibrate at some god awful level of quickness. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Thanks again, all. Especially Chuck ---- who surely saved me countless hours staring dazedly at rows of black and white models!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 I am still very pleased with my $583 37" Toshiba LSD (no tax and shipping), which also has remarkably good built-in audio. I bought it from Ritz Camera (California) by way of Amazon. It's a 720pi, but I understand that 1080pi is only important when the screen size is 42" and beyond. The quality was greatly enhanced when I replaced the Component cables with 2 HDMIs (one from cable box the other from DVD player). In my computorium I have a 19" Samsung, which is also excellent. Oddly, this set does no take an HDMI cable connection well (a horizontal flash appears across the bottom every half minute. The component cables work very well, but yesterday my cable guy told me that switching from them to an S-video cable would improve on that. I have ordered that cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Thanks, Chris. Lots of good information here fellas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 make sure you try an antenna for over the air HD broadcasts, too. The over the air signals are uncompressed (unlike cable) and it's free. Of course, if you already have cable or satellite, that last point doesn't matter much, but the picture does look nice with a decent antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Good point. I don't have cable. I use the antenna mounted on my roof. Always have had a very good picture, but with HD. . . wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Good point. I don't have cable. I use the antenna mounted on my roof. Always have had a very good picture, but with HD. . . wow. If it weren't for my kids' love of channels such as Noggin, Sprout, Nick and Disney and my wife's love of HGTV, Style, etc. I would have gone with just antenna and no cable years ago! Even the sound seems better on antenna-HDTV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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