TV's???

[Bob F.]

SWMBO's got her heart set on a new TV. Our cable's going HD only in Nov and #1 TV is about 15 yrs old  (Magnavox) and still works pretty good. Remote's getting finiky. We'll move it to another room. Have a Magnavox compact stereo that's OK, except the tuner section sucks big time. What's a good buy, say 42", without a bunch of bell & whistles?

Thanks.
Bob

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

check woot each day

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

speak of the devil
http://deals.woot.com/sellout

[mtnbkr]

If you're shopping for a new TV, Woot and Slickdeals are two good sites to keep an eye on.  That said, if you see one you like, BUY IT.  It isn't unusual for a desirable deal to only last hours or even minutes.  You have to know what you want and be ready to buy.

As for specific models, I'm no help because I'm not terribly critical of TVs.  We have a 3yo Samsung 40" 720p that we like.  These days, there's no benefit of buying a 720p set with 1080p being so inexpensive, but at the time 720p was worth $200+ in savings.

Chris

[Jamisjockey]

We have a samsung 42 LCD and a 37" Vizio that have both run flawlessly for several years.
Hold out another month and you should be able to score some christmas sales big time this year.

[HankB]

We have a samsung 42 LCD and a 37" Vizio that have both run flawlessly for several years.Hold out another month and you should be able to score some christmas sales big time this year.

WSJ had an article just today that predicted this year's Christmas markdowns will average 8%, rather than last year's 20%.

I have a 40" Toshiba 40XV645U television in the MBR that I've had for just under two years. Toshiba noted on their website that some of these TVs were produced with a bad panel - including mine. So Toshiba replaced it - sent guys out with a brand new TV, set it up, packed up the old one - in and out in an hour. Good customer service in this instance. TV has a great picture - after a little tweaking - and I got it for a good price, but it's a little short on sound quality. (Added a Polk surroundbar - now I'm happy with it.)

Though many folks are extremely satisfied with them, I've heard that brands like Zenith, Magnavox, Vizio, and LG have a higher incidence of problems than some other brands, with spotty customer service.

[brimic]

I have a 42" and a 50" Samsung Panasonic Viera Plasmas.
No problems with either.
The sad thing is that I paid $2500 for the 42" 6-7 years ago and you can now buy them (witth even better features) for around $700. I don't think I paid more than $1200 for the 50" last year. I bought both for the wife as she is the major TV consumer in my house, the old 42" has been relegated to WII/movie status in the rec room for the kids. For the 42", I'd recommend a 720P resolution, at that size, there isn't enough difference in resolution to justify the cost difference.
The only downside on this brand is that the sound sort of sucks (its hard to hear), but I have mine hooked up through stereo receiver- which you would want to have for movies anyway.

[BrokenPaw]

I can't speak directly to Toshiba TVs (I have a Sony 52" SXRD) but my experience with Toshiba customer support is in line with HankB's: on the rare occasion I've had to deal with them, they've bent over backwards to make things right to my satisfaction; I now have Toshiba Blu-ray, washer, dryer, refrigerator, and dishwasher, in no small part because of customer service I received from them.

[Harold Tuttle]

its all about the contrast ratio, and few angle
I like samsungs

[dm1333]

I would avoid Westinghouse like a plague ridden corpse.  Their actual TVs are ok, I'm not a techy type so as long as the picture is clear I'm good with it.  Getting them to replace a TV that broke while still under warranty was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life.  It took just about 5 months from beginning to end, with multiple calls per week to their customer nonservice line (I hope Satan has a special place reserved in hell for Rory, their worst customer service rep).  The most frustrating part was that every time they "lost" my warranty claim they wanted me to start the process over from square one.  The whole process made me think that they had no interest in honoring their warranty.  The only reason why I had any success was that with no TV to watch I had plenty of free time to either sit on hold or argue with their reps about their crappy service.

Having said that, the replacement TV has worked well for over a year, if it said Samsung or Vizio on it I would buy another one without a second thought.  

[Brad Johnson]

Picked up a Dynex (Best Box house brand) on a good deal by cruising their open box/clearance section.  Saw what I want and made a cash (well, check) offer.

Brad

[Gowen]

We were just looking at new TV's last week.  Seriously, look for quality over size and price.  You can really tell the difference.  Some of the bigger tv's did not have the resolution or color crispness that the mid size did.

[Thor]

The older tube TV dies at the house. In order to still utilize the current entertainment center, I was restricted to an overall width of 30½". I found an Emerson 32" (measured diagonally) LCD TV at Wally World that fir the bill, perfectly. It seems pretty good. I will say that LCD TVs are a little lackluster over the analog TVs.

[MechAg94]

Before pulling the trigger on Woot, make sure you check more mainstream sites for price comparrison.  IMO, Woot often is not that great a deal especially since most of the TV's are refurbished.  Just verify it is in fact a deal.

I have a 50" Samsung DLP HDTV and works great for me after a few years.  My Dad bought a Sony LED and now I wish I had one.

[zahc]

I'm convinced that they no longer make decent TVs.

I've returned 2 plasma TVs for obvious design flaws, and all the LED TVs are edge-lit with horrible lighting evenness problems on top of the typical LCD shortcomings. I've been TV-less for nearly a month now, because I literally can't find anything that I feel is worth the money. Maybe I will eventually try a DLP front projector or something.

[Brad Johnson]

I'm convinced that they no longer make decent TVs.

I've returned 2 plasma TVs for obvious design flaws, and all the LED TVs are edge-lit with horrible lighting evenness problems on top of the typical LCD shortcomings.

Not all, just some, and usually the low end units.  There are some terrific TV's currently available, you just have to shop smart.  My parents bought a 55" Samsung LED that is superb.  Can't say the same for their Dish HD service, which is hit and miss.  My DirecTV is, at the moment, significantly better in terms of motion artifacts and picture quality.

Brad

[sanglant]

if there going hd only,(are you sure they didn't say digital only?) they will probably require a set top box.

that box will work fine with your old tv.

of it's digital only, a new tv wont help. you'll still have to have there box.

[MechAg94]

Not all, just some, and usually the low end units.  There are some terrific TV's currently available, you just have to shop smart.  My parents bought a 55" Samsung LED that is superb.  Can't say the same for their Dish HD service, which is hit and miss.  My DirecTV is, at the moment, significantly better in terms of motion artifacts and picture quality.

Brad

That is why I would hesitate to buy refurbished stuff or low end brands.  It doesn't always help. 

Anyone know what to do with old tube TV's besides shooting them?

[sanglant]

keep them for old SD programs? SD looks terrible in HD.

[erictank]

WSJ had an article just today that predicted this year's Christmas markdowns will average 8%, rather than last year's 20%.

I have a 40" Toshiba 40XV645U television in the MBR that I've had for just under two years. Toshiba noted on their website that some of these TVs were produced with a bad panel - including mine. So Toshiba replaced it - sent guys out with a brand new TV, set it up, packed up the old one - in and out in an hour. Good customer service in this instance. TV has a great picture - after a little tweaking - and I got it for a good price, but it's a little short on sound quality. (Added a Polk surroundbar - now I'm happy with it.)

Though many folks are extremely satisfied with them, I've heard that brands like Zenith, Magnavox, Vizio, and LG have a higher incidence of problems than some other brands, with spotty customer service.

I've got two different Panasonic Viera 42" plasmas (the older one is upstairs in the LR, the newer THX-certified model is down in the den), which I'm liking quite a bit.  Sound quality is a little "meh", but that's pretty much the case with all TVs these days as far as I can tell.  I'd like to get a sound bar for one or both of them, at some point, but don't know if the wife would go along with it.

Price on this size TV has gone WAY down from when I bought mine - unless you have size constraints, there seems to me to be little reason to go below the 40-42" range, for LR/Den service.  I don't even know if they offer 720p at this size anymore, and certainly don't think there's a reason not to get 1080p at this size - I could see the difference when I wandered around Best Buy while researching TVs a few years ago, and there's little to no price difference anymore, I believe.

[GigaBuist]

I will say that LCD TVs are a little lackluster over the analog TVs.

Their big shortcoming, to my eyes, is found with the contrast ratio.  Cheaper models, like mine, a Polaroid POS, will have something like a 1000:1 ratio.  When the color is dark it has trouble showing anything bright and vice versa.

Whenever I get around to buying another LCD TV I'll pay more attention to that spec than I did before.

[sanglant]

two words, input lag

[Brad Johnson]

Many sets have an audio delay adjustment for just that very reason.

Brad

[sanglant]

actually video games and computer use are the worst areas for mine.
as a monitor, the display runs about 1½ seconds behind.

edit: i is be an idiot.