HDTV suggestions?

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:43 am

I know we've seen plenty of these in the past but here's another one. My old school 38" RCA CRT HDTV all of a sudden just crapped out on me. I was about to watch Magnolia while i cooked some dinner and about 1 minute into the film the TV loses power. It won't turn on. The TV is probably close t 6 years old. It's somewhat nice to know that i can finally get a new TV but it's also gonna hurt my wallet pretty bad, and i have some other expenses coming up that i need to take care of as well.

Anyway, i need suggestions on a TV now. Something similar in size so maybe 37"-40" with all the good stuff like multiple hdmi inputs and if it's even possible 1080p for a reasonable price. I think an LCD is the way i want to go, but if someone can convince me that DLP or something else is just as good then go for it. You still have to replace bulbs in a DLP, correct? I'm thinking the most i would want to spend is around $1600, and if i can go less i would be thrilled. I'm probably pricing myself out of 1080p but we'll see.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:31 am

If you want something in 37" and above in flat-panel LCD, then your cost is most likely going to be above $1600US, unless you find some great deals.

At BestBuy.com however, there's a Westinghouse 37" LCD which is on sale for $1299.99 and there is also another Westinghouse that is 1080p which is $1499.99.

Most of the major brands start at around $1800-2000 it seems.

As far as DLP or projection LCD is concerned, you can find at least a 42" in your price range, or perhaps even a 50 if you shop around enough.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:42 am

It might be a bit above the $1600 you were looking at, but this Sharp set has been nothing short of spectacular for me. Really deep blacks for an LCD, really fast response time and great colours.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... rowse=[img]

It looks nice too...

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LAking · Post by **LAking** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:46 am

I've looked at DLP now and it might be a better idea. As long as the bulbs can last quite a while. 42" is really all i can handle. Anything bigger and then we're talking a new stand and all that crap, and i don't want to spend extra for that. I've heard the Westinghouse TVs have pretty poor picture quality and i admit i'm kind of a snob when it comes to picture quality. The Samsung HLS4266W looks pretty good. 1080p looks to expensive

Anyone have the Samsung 42" DLP?

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:51 am

It might be a bit above the $1600 you were looking at, but this Sharp set has been nothing short of spectacular for me. Really deep blacks for an LCD, really fast response time and great colours.

Hey, question for you. Do you have a Harmony remote for that thing? My friend just got the 32" Sharp and he can't get his harmony to switch the input on the TV. He has to do that manually after he presses one of the function buttons. IF this is the case than it's a turn off for me since i have a harmony as well. But it does have a great picture.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:57 am

Sorry...not using that remote. I've heard they are great though.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:05 am

fanatic wrote:Sorry...not using that remote. I've heard they are great though.

Ehh...get a Theater Master and everything will be gravy. I thought Harmony's were great for years...I've seen the light since then.

As for a TV...just get one of the Samsungs that they use in the 360 kiosks...they make them in some pretty decent sizes. They are cheap too for what you get.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:27 am

fanatic wrote:It might be a bit above the $1600 you were looking at, but this Sharp set has been nothing short of spectacular for me. Really deep blacks for an LCD, really fast response time and great colours.

That's actually been quite a good seller at work. It's pretty amazing how quickly prices have come down on solid LCD sets.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:23 am

LAking wrote:I've looked at DLP now and it might be a better idea. As long as the bulbs can last quite a while.

Most of these DLP's have bulbs rated for 10,000 hrs. I would expect closer to 6,000 hrs though.

In my front projection DLP, the bulb was rated for 3000 hrs and was still doing fine when it passed 2000 hrs.

You can replace the bulb yourself when the time comes 5-7yrs from now (depending on your usage), it's nothing that a service tech has to do (unless you call them to unscrew a lightbulb too

).

You should be able to get a quality 42" DLP for well under your price range. I paid $1800 last June for a 50" Panasonic DLP w/ the HD2+ chip, (even now, still one of the best 720p chips out there as it's 1:1 pixel to mirror ratio so there is zero artifacting with fast motion and gaming, unlike cheaper DLP sets with mass produced 720p chips (2:1 pixel to mirror ratio).

With LCD, you'll probably need to spend more than you're wanting to do get inky blacks and no artifacting and smearing during fast motion. Most of the entry level and budget LCD's out there are garbage, especially if you're a picture quality snob. That's what turned me off to LCD technology when I was shopping around. My Dad bought a 50" Sony LCD and I took my 360 over there to test it out. Ugh. Pixelation all over the place, couldn't stand it. And SD or anything 480i going into it suffered big time. That's not to say that they all suck. I've seen plenty of LCD rear projection sets that are jaw dropping. You just have to spend much more money than what the budget LCD's are selling for.

rayray00 · Post by **rayray00** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:04 pm

Best Buy has a pretty sweet deal on the Samsung 42" DLP HDTV (
Model: HL-S4266W) - it is $1349 and if you order online (can still pick it up at the store), you get a free home stereo/dvd/speaker system - valued at ~$200.

-Ray!!!

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:02 pm

rayray00 wrote:Best Buy has a pretty sweet deal on the Samsung 42" DLP HDTV (
Model: HL-S4266W) - it is $1349 and if you order online (can still pick it up at the store), you get a free home stereo/dvd/speaker system - valued at ~$200.

-Ray!!!

I noticed that deal. That's the front runner right now. I just stopped by Best Buy and took a look at the set. I wasn't thrilled but it might have just been the DVD they were palying. They had the set in one of those mock home theaster set ups. I think the DVD they were playing was a surround sound demo so the picture wasn't spectacular and it was only a dvd, not HD. I'll ask again if anyone has any experience with thew Samsung 42" DLP or if someone can point me to a nice indepth review since i'm having a hard time findind non customer reviews through google.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:07 pm

LAking wrote: or if someone can point me to a nice indepth review since i'm having a hard time findind non customer reviews through google.

Here you are sir:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=671006

11 pages, happy reading.

rayray00 · Post by **rayray00** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:23 pm

I tried buying that 42" Samsung online from Best Buy with instore pickup and only ONE STORE IN TEXAS had one on hand - and it was in Waco - no where near the D/FW area.

I found one at Circuit City for the same price as Best Buy - minus the free stereo and picked it up.

I have to say - it has the best picture of any 720p HDTV I have seen. Having it next to my 4 year old 57" RPTV really showed me how old the big TV is. For XBox 360, it is amazing...we played GRAW, Chromehounds and Marble Blast on it all weekend and all the in-laws would just rave about how great the picture looked.

Anyway, if you can find one, I think it is a damn fine TV for the money.

-Ray!!!

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:57 pm

Purchased the sammy yesterday. $999 for an open box return at circuit city with same manufacturers warranty, plus i got a two year extended warranty for only $90. It will be delivered next weekend. I can't wait.