Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: HankB on February 16, 2009, 07:32:02 PM
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OK, I know over the past few years there have been a few threads about TVs, but I'm wondering if anyone here has some current experience with a flat panel in around the 37" range? I plan on getting one for the MBR, and would like to avoid brands/models that have been problematic.
Likewise, if anyone has some sage advice about GOOD brands, or things to look for, I'd welcome your input.
About all I've figured so far is that for a 37" model, paying extra for a 1080p vs. a 720p puts you on the wrong side of the price/performance curve, and buying a display model (that's been running at least 16 hours a day, every day, for most of a year) may not be a good idea.
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Vizio 1080P. I've got one in my basement in the same size you're thinking of getting.
Love it.
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and buying a display model (that's been running at least 16 hours a day, every day, for most of a year) may not be a good idea.
I wouldn't rule that out. I bought a 60" Sony display model a year ago. It's been a great TV and is still doing fine. I paid about $1200.
A friend of mine bought an LG (37' or so) in December and it's been nothing but trouble. After three service calls, and having nearly every major component replaced, he just got store approval to return it. We still have the Sony we bought when we thought anything more than 19" was huge. I'm a fan.
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Skip the television. Read books.
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Based on the fun I've had with LG cell phones, I sure as hell wouldn't buy one of their TVs.
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Consider a projector. Much greater m^2/$, and takes up no room space.
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What the hell do we know? Go ask the TV nerds... Consumer Reports, C/Net, etc.
FWIW, I just bought a Samsung that was highly rated by Consumer Reports.
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Oh yeah. avsforum.com
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SWMBO and I just bought a 46" Samsung LCD. Nice set, but the first one was broken out of the box.
Ed
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Based on the fun I've had with LG cell phones, I sure as hell wouldn't buy one of their TVs.
Amen!
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As far as picture quality, the samsungs and sonys are the best, IMHO. The vizio looks nice and is cheaper, but I'm not sure how well they would hold up long term. In the past 20 years I've only bought 4 tvs... all sony... all still working like the day they came out of the box. (barring the one my wife dropped, which still works, but has some discoloration since the drop) One was even an old rear projection, even that one is still like-new.
My friend has a vizio and he likes it... the picture is pretty good.
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paying extra for a 1080p vs. a 720p puts you on the wrong side of the price/performance curve,
I'm not sure I agree with that. The prices I've seen lately show a much smaller price difference between the two than when I bought my 720p set this summer. In fact, there are now 1080p sets of the same size as my 720 that are the same price or cheaper than what I paid for mine (which was a good deal at the time).
Chris
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Keeping an eye out for deals can really save you a lot of money.
I ended up buying a 46" set for more than a $100 less than the normal price of a 42" set I'd been looking for.
For something as 'small' as a 37" set today, you're correct that 720p is probably the better option. Even for my 46" TV, to get the full benefit of 1080, I'd need to be only 6 feet away, vs 9' for 720. Those extra 4" buys me a half foot for 'optimal', IE actually being able to observe, the extra resolution.
For a 37" set, you're looking at 4.8' for 1080, 7.25' for 720
At 5'-7', you're looking at, what, two people being able to watch comfortably?
http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/HDTV_Viewing_Distance.htm - A good explanation of the reasoning behind viewing range. I like the Eye chart letter example.
http://hdguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/hd-guru-viewing-distance-chart.pdf - For the average person with 20/20 vision.
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720p isn't high def. It's close, but still no banana.
Brad
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I've got a Dynex 42" LCD 1080p.
So far, it's been great. The only complaints I have relate to peripherals... but I have an unorthodox setup in my living room. I bought it back in summer 2008 for $1000 at Best Buy. The Sony, LG, JVC, Mitsubishi and other comparable models all cost at least 60% more than the Dynex.
I run mine @ 1920 x 1080 as a computer monitor for my ATI video tuner card as a DVR over 15-pin DSUB VGA, and then have a Samsung Blu-Ray player on HDMI as well.
Unless you get the new 120Hz technology, the money you spend is more related to glass size than resolution, IMO. 720's and 1080's at 60Hz seem to cost just about the same, give or take about $100.
I think the Dynex and Vizio products are great values, aside from the outflow of money to China. But, it's either going to China, Mexico, Indonesia or South Korea... none of these are built in the US.
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I had the Sharp Aquos 720P in 37". I thought it was a great set, but recently moved up to the Samsung 650A 50" at 1080P. The Samsung, as mentioned above, gets rave reviews - -check some of the Amazon reviews on it (they make a 37 too I believe.
I gotta say, I notice a BIG difference between the 720 and 1080. Some of it may be in the screen size, but somehow scenes just "pop" out much better on this set -- sometimes I think I'm watching in 3D. Anyways, highly recommend the Samsung.
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Love my Hitachi 42" 1080i plasma.
Hate Charter's bandwidth compression.
Why have a HDTV if the signal is blocky/lossy thanks to the provider's greed?
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I have a Visio 42 inch 1080p. It is 13 months old and runs perfect. I wish I had gone with a larger set though. The 46 inch sets are running around the same price as I paid for my 42 inch last year.....chris3
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Thanks for the advice, all . . .
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Just hook a disk player up to it. Otherwise, I'd just recommend throwing a wrench through the screen.
(VERY close to it...)
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Can anyone tell me about the Sony Bravia KDL-42V4100 42in Widescreen? I'm looking for a new TV, and my regular vendor is willing to quote me one for a very reasonable price. But I'm moreso worried about picture and longevity. Anyone have any personal experience with the Bravia line and how they compare?
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FYI, Vizio has several different levels of quality at the same sizes. Check Consumer Reports!
I did finally see something that could entice me to buy a new massive one and Blu-Ray player, though.
The store...had on the taxi chase from The Fifth Element in HD. That was...um... :O
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FYI, Vizio has several different levels of quality at the same sizes. Check Consumer Reports!
I did finally see something that could entice me to buy a new massive one and Blu-Ray player, though.
The store...had on the taxi chase from The Fifth Element in HD. That was...um... :O
Price difference after the vendor ran the magic numbers was slightly over a $100 difference. At the moment, that's not a huge difference to me. Already have Blu-Ray on my laptop, which I plug into my existing TV. I'll probably break down and pick up a normal BR player to go along with my HD-DVD player. =D
My primary usage will be video games. I don't want TV/cable, and I play a movie only a few times a week.
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Consider a projector. Much greater m^2/$, and takes up no room space.
This is what my wife and I did.
Ambient light can be an issue, but since we (mostly she) watches TV at night, it's no big deal. We have 108" display that doesn't distract from the room when off. I've mounted it to the ceiling, and run video to a PC in the closet of the office. The PC is our DVR, and it is totally controllable from the living room.
Wiring it up was a little tricky, but no problem, really. we run 800x600 (I think) over CAT5. RCA level audio runs over RG6 Coax to the amp, in the living room.
Projector was $400ish. Insight, IIRC.
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Here's another vote for Vizio. We've had our 32" LCD for almost two years now, with absolutely zero problems.