"Thinking of getting a new TV..." Topic

Ok, I'll admit it. I have not really paid a bit of attention to the whole blueray, HD-DVD format war.

I also have not really paid any attention to the slew of new TV types out there HD, plasma, flatscreen, whatever.

Mainly as I was not interested in being an early adopter in either of the categories and getting burned by faulty, or soon passed by from newer updates(blue ray has 1.1 and 2.0?) and better prices.

Now my poor old TV is starting to have display problems. I know it's getting time to make the change to something new. I have a Xbox 360 and would like to make use of the higher displays. I'm not really looking to buy a Blue ray player until the prices drop a lot more. At some point I will get one.

So here is my situation; I want to know what would be the best type of TV for me to get. I don't have to have the most powerful one/most expensive/newest thing but one that will let me go the next 10 years with out problems and be able to handle all that is going to be coming out in the future from blue ray, video games, and be able to accept all my older stuff.

I am fond of Philips Magnavox products. 2 tv's that have lasted me around 10 years each, 1 vcr that is going on 15years, a huge early model DVD player that lasted around 10 years and now a newer one that is only 2 years old. I've been happy with all my purchases from them and would prefer to jump into this new era with them again…. Unless they jacked it all up and they are to be avoided. Brand name loyalty only goes as far as the good working items :)

Keep the old TV and spend the money on books and minis instead. I don't know how much Big Ass TVs cost these days but I bet you could get a 50 month subsciption to Audible for the price. That would get you about 50 audiobooks that you could listen to while painting.

Pick up the latest issue of Consumer Reports. The featured review (15 pages) is of big screen TVs. They rate performance and reliability, they walk you through choosing high-def programming, and they give tips on choosing the right TV for your needs.

My first TV was a Magnavox, bought in 1994, still running strong. I love it. But Phillips hasn't kept up in the tech race. I wouldn't recommend buying one now.

Get a LCD not Plasma, 30% less power consumption, lasts longer.

Never had a TV, never wanted one, won't get one. Most TV programmes are rubbish, I've got better things to do with my time. And the TV license is a rip off stealth tax. If I want to watch a movie I'll go to the cinema or play the DVD on a computer.

Like Pictors said …

We were in a similar situation in November. My massive Sony 32" picture tube was on the fritz. It's 10 years old now and does this every once in awhile. I also have an Xbox and only one tv, so the wife was all for getting another one so we could both do our own thing and in case the other one died. We chose the Westinghouse plasma 32". I did a lot of research and found it was the best value. It's not the best picture by a long shot, but that's not important to us. What was important was to have a 32" tv that takes up less room than the 200 pound monster we currently have. I think we paid about $500-600 for the tv. That was a lot less than the Sony I bought in 1998.

Now, the Sony has been working fine for 3 months. So, you never know. Maybe it's worth waiting.

Best LCDs are made by Sony. XBR4 and now XBR5 series. These tend to cost a little more but the pciture quality and performance is worth it. I have a friend who is very into gaming and swears that the extra investment was worth it.

They also make some lower cost models that re pretty nice.

I bought/sold millions of dollars of "displays" from dozens of mfgs for 20 years and have always had good success and support from Sony.

Someone else mentioned Westinghouse. I got an incredible deal on a 42" 18 months ago (half of street price) so I could not pass it up. I've been very happy with it so far outside of some initial set up issues and terrible remote.

Definitely a LCD, plasma images fade after 6 months
We got a Vizio from Costco and have been very happy with it
42" one is now 999.99
Vizios are rated equivelant to Sony and much less expensive
Costoc has 37" Phillips for 799.99

"Vizios are rated equivelant to Sony and much less expensive"

That's interesting. Which models are you comparing?

I endeavor to avoid purchasing Japanese brands in everything except saki. Any advice as I know most European/US brand names are merely fronts?

I'm not sure that plasma tv's are really that bad. Recent literature suggests that they'll be fine for at least 10-15 years, which is the average lifespan of a tv. I suppose if you're worried about any fading and are an AV junky, you should go the more expensive route. Most of us don't notice the difference.

Avoid Sony.
They are still living off of their fame from their Tube days. Their HD TVs are no way as good as others out there.

Personally, I'm a fan of Toshiba and Sharp. I have a 46" Aquos LCD which is freaking awesome.

Phillips TVs are not so good.
If you want to save some monmey, get an Olevia, as they are the manufacturer for some of the "name" brands…

To put it bluntly, just shop around and get the biggest set you can fit comfortably in your house for the price you feel is fair. Yeah, Consumer Reports (I do subscribe to it, by the way) and all those other review sites are great… but what they consider to be the best picture may not be what you like.

Last Labor Day my wife and I went to a pawn shop near the house and bought a 46-inch Sony WEGA for $350. USD It's a wide-screen with one HDMI input, two additional hi-def/composit inputs, plus two additional composit inputs and two coaxial inputs. It's also got a built-in digital tuner, built-in speakers and we LOVE the picture quality on hi-def (1080i).

Is this the best set out there? Nope. It's also pretty darned big (it's a flat screen, but not a flat panel). But we love it! Great picture, GREAT price. It was originally $450 USD but we asked "What's the cash price?" and they came down $100! We were hoping they would come down $50, but the TV had been in the shop for a while, so they wanted to move it.

Warranty? Nope. Manual? Online. Remote? Bought the Sony Universal and it works perfectly (no programming required).

So, the moral is -- shop around and get what YOU like.

I went with a Toshiba DLP 51" ~$1100 1080i

Great picture
all the inputs you could ask for

about 8" thick and 70 pounds.

Do you have kids and what age are they? I ask becuase my beloved samsung 32" LCD tv recently had most cruel murder done upon it by my 3 year old. If there isn't a glass panel covering the screen, which on most lcds there isn't, it's quite fragile. Not to everyday use, but if you were to, say, randomly throw a rubber sink plunger over your shoulder and it hit the screen, it would be thoroughly 'goosed'. Our tv now, if you turn it on has the picture with a superimposed bullet hole type impact mark in the centre and radiating cracks running out from it.

It's up in the loft until I can bring myself to bury it.

My advice LCD tvs are good, especially if it's HD ready. But for the love of God, keep kids and animals away from it.

Samsung has a couple of model that don't have a tuner. So if you are using cable/dish then you can save your self some cash.

FYI. . .

Vizio is you of the few, if not the only one, that is actually manufactured in the USA.

Anyone have latency issues on their LCDs?

Sony isn't what it used to be in quality. My Sony died after around 5 years of use, not wanting those fancy ones, I bought a new 27" Panasonic Tau for around $200(maybe $250?).

I bought a new 27" Panasonic Tau for around $200(maybe $250?).

That's the same one I got. I've been happy with mine.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be a few months before I even make it into the stores with this purchase in hand but I wanted to start my research early.

What effect will the upcoming conversion to digital signals have on this discussion? Is there a TV one can buy now so that one will not need a digital converter after the switchover (i.e. it can still receive basic cable channels without having to go through a box first)?

Thanks in advance…

All TVs you buy now will either have a digital tuner or the right jack for one. No worries there.

I have heard a lot of great things about Vizio. I have a Sharp Aquos 42" LCD and I really like it. Aquos is pricey, but runs at 1080p, which will be more common down the road than it is now.

Thanks a lot. That's good to know…