Help a girl buy a TV

[xpanda]

Going off the deep end this week and buying an LCD flatscreen.

Problem is, I don't know what to look for. Looking to buy one around 27-29", with an aspect ratio of 16:9, but that's all I know. Willing to spend upwards of $1200 CAD, though less than that would be great.

What should I be looking for and/or asking? Don't want to get the 'here comes a girl' hosejob I'm in for, so hoping for some good feedback.

Thanks!

 

[TTinCO]

Start with sites like
http://products.howstuffworks.com/flat-panel-television-less-than-32-inches-reviews.htm

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6482_7-6344928-1.html

http://www.nextag.com/27-inch-lcd-tv/search-html

and narrow down what you're looking for. You'll probablly find some good prices online also.

 

[tatehill2000]

buy the warrenty,,,, (only with TVS,) nothing else,,,,

nothing else,,,,
tater

 

[Boxslayer]

Panda, I just went through this process buying my TV and I am very happy with my selection. This post may be long, but it is really everything you need to know in a nutshell.

1. Determine your price range

2. Determine your size TV that fits appropriately in your room

3. Determine which brand TVs with the size you chose fit within your budget

4. LCD vs. Plasma. PLASMA IS BETTER. LCD is more for computer monitors, etc. But for a TV Plasma is better. One major reason is quality of TV picture over time. If you buy a brand new TV that picture always looks beautiful and sharp. With Plasma, they have a useful life over 150,000 hours. Meaning you could leave it on 8 hours a day, every single day for the next 50 years and the picture will look the same as when you bought it. The same cant be said for LCD. You may buy it. Use it for a year, and your picture may begin to go dull.

5. Protect your investment - Manufacturer's warranty will only cover certain things. Warranties from Best Buy and Circuit City cover many other things such as PIXEL LOSS. If your TV starts dropping rows of pixels and isnt keeping that HDTV look, they will try to fix it and if they cant, they will replace it with a brand new one.

6. Protect your investment part 2: Get a Monster Cable or some kind of power surge wall extension outlet.

7. HDMI: This is optional but is for ultimate quality. HDMI = High Definition Multimedia Interface and instead of you connecting the yellow, the white and the red connectors and having 100 different cables back there, HDMI is 1 single cable that connects audio and video in one cable. The cable is sort of like broadband, it sends higher packets of information and fills in your screen for ultimate HDTV quality.

Besides the TV you need to budget for these things and it can nearly double the cost of your TV. Warranty may run you $300, but is a must. Power surge is a must and may run you $125. HDMI is optional and may run you $80, depending on the length of the cable.

TV stand, or a wall mounting bracket is a whole other animal, and will run you another $100+.


As for brands of Plasma: Pioneer is by far and away the highest quality HDTV on the planet right now. But it is overpriced. If you want the best quality of TV picture quality and price, the Panasonic and Samsung are 2 great TVs. The Panasonic isnt cosmetically appealing, with its plain silver look, but it is more of a bargain. Samsung is reasonably priced, has a great picture, and is slick to look at with its black mirror reflective edges.

One more thing, dont be confused with HDTV and EDTV. EDTVC is extreme definition TV and is not as good as HDTV.

Also you want to look at the contrast ratio. This is one of the most prominent stats on the price label at a place like Best Buy. 10,000:1 is outstanding. 5,000:1 is average. As a baseline you can work off that.

My TV is the 32" Samsung HDTV Plasma. 10,000:1 contrast ratio. I got the warranty, power surge, HDMI interface etc.

 

[Rawpimple]

Panda, I just went through this process buying my TV and I am very happy with my selection. This post may be long, but it is really everything you need to know in a nutshell.

1. Determine your price range

2. Determine your size TV that fits appropriately in your room

3. Determine which brand TVs with the size you chose fit within your budget

4. LCD vs. Plasma. PLASMA IS BETTER. LCD is more for computer monitors, etc. But for a TV Plasma is better. One major reason is quality of TV picture over time. If you buy a brand new TV that picture always looks beautiful and sharp. With Plasma, they have a useful life over 150,000 hours. Meaning you could leave it on 8 hours a day, every single day for the next 50 years and the picture will look the same as when you bought it. The same cant be said for LCD. You may buy it. Use it for a year, and your picture may begin to go dull.

5. Protect your investment - Manufacturer's warranty will only cover certain things. Warranties from Best Buy and Circuit City cover many other things such as PIXEL LOSS. If your TV starts dropping rows of pixels and isnt keeping that HDTV look, they will try to fix it and if they cant, they will replace it with a brand new one.

6. Protect your investment part 2: Get a Monster Cable or some kind of power surge wall extension outlet.

7. HDMI: This is optional but is for ultimate quality. HDMI = High Definition Multimedia Interface and instead of you connecting the yellow, the white and the red connectors and having 100 different cables back there, HDMI is 1 single cable that connects audio and video in one cable. The cable is sort of like broadband, it sends higher packets of information and fills in your screen for ultimate HDTV quality.

Besides the TV you need to budget for these things and it can nearly double the cost of your TV. Warranty may run you $300, but is a must. Power surge is a must and may run you $125. HDMI is optional and may run you $80, depending on the length of the cable.

TV stand, or a wall mounting bracket is a whole other animal, and will run you another $100+.


As for brands of Plasma: Pioneer is by far and away the highest quality HDTV on the planet right now. But it is overpriced. If you want the best quality of TV picture quality and price, the Panasonic and Samsung are 2 great TVs. The Panasonic isnt cosmetically appealing, with its plain silver look, but it is more of a bargain. Samsung is reasonably priced, has a great picture, and is slick to look at with its black mirror reflective edges.

One more thing, dont be confused with HDTV and EDTV. EDTVC is extreme definition TV and is not as good as HDTV.

Also you want to look at the contrast ratio. This is one of the most prominent stats on the price label at a place like Best Buy. 10,000:1 is outstanding. 5,000:1 is average. As a baseline you can work off that.

My TV is the 32" Samsung HDTV Plasma. 10,000:1 contrast ratio. I got the warranty, power surge, HDMI interface etc.

Does Best Buy offer you good health insurance?

 

[xpanda]

Thanks, Boxslayer! Some really great info in there.

My brother-in-law told me that the problem with a plasma is that if anything goes wrong with the screen, it's not possible to fix. Given the high price-point of plasmas, they aren't the kind of thing you throw out rather than repair. Do you know anything about that? I am still leaning LCD ...

 

[Boxslayer]

Thanks, Boxslayer! Some really great info in there.

My brother-in-law told me that the problem with a plasma is that if anything goes wrong with the screen, it's not possible to fix. Given the high price-point of plasmas, they aren't the kind of thing you throw out rather than repair. Do you know anything about that? I am still leaning LCD ...

#5 Covers this on my list. Warranty is so important regardless of what TV you get. But if you dont get the warranty and anything goes wrong with the screen, it isnt covered under the manufacturers warranty. If you get the store warranty at Best Buy/Circuit City, if anything goes wrong with that screen, pixel loss, etc, and they cant fix it, they give you a brand new TV. The warranty usually covers anywhere from 3-4 years.

Reading an internet site about plasmas, if anything goes wrong with the TV, it will usually happen within the first 500 hours of watching. Which is fast about 1 year. If you watch TV 2 hours a day over the next year, that's 730 hours. The point is, if anything goes wrong with that TV, the store warranty will cover it in time.

LCD's are NOT ideal for TV watching. You will notice dullness in the screen over time, picture quality will decrease etc. LCD's are getting better. But they arent as good as plasmas yet, they need more time. If you buy a TV within the next 2 months, I'd say Plasma is much better hands down.

Plasma vs. LCD

1. We discussed picture loss over time. Plasma has a much higher useful life. If using the LCD as a computer display vs. a plasma computer display, then LCD has a much longer useful life, which is why they have been primarily sold as computer monitors in the past.

2. LCDs will blur images during fast moving scenes.

3. Plasmas have better viewing angles. If you sit on the side of an LCD or Plasma, you wont be able to see the screen on LCD as good as you will a plasma.

4. LCD consumes less power for your power bill, whatever that minor difference may break down monthly. But it's an advantage for LCD.

 

[919]

Very informative.

 

[xpanda]

Well, I bit the bullet and went for the LCD. Frankly, it came down to size. As a girl, I find anything over 37" to be an absolute eyesore, and they apparently don't make Plasmas any smaller than 42".

Bought a Panasonic 32" with an extended 4-year warranty and just arranged for HDTV to be installed. Also bought the wall mount swivel thing so I can watch tv all over the place. I spent a crapload more than I wanted to, but am pretty happy with the product.

Thanks for all the input, Boxslayer. I'll let you know how I feel about my purchase in a couple of months.

 

[Boxslayer]

Well, I bit the bullet and went for the LCD. Frankly, it came down to size. As a girl, I find anything over 37" to be an absolute eyesore, and they apparently don't make Plasmas any smaller than 42".

Bought a Panasonic 32" with an extended 4-year warranty and just arranged for HDTV to be installed. Also bought the wall mount swivel thing so I can watch tv all over the place. I spent a crapload more than I wanted to, but am pretty happy with the product.

Thanks for all the input, Boxslayer. I'll let you know how I feel about my purchase in a couple of months.

No problem! One thing to note, is I didnt mean for my post to sound like LCD is dogshit, because it isnt. I mean - youll be happy with your TV, LCD is great, it's just that Plasma is better at this point in time. When the TV is in your home you wont be able to tell a difference. But if you put the TVs side to side, you would be able to tell a minute difference. So, like I said, you couldnt really go wrong either way. And they do make plasmas smaller than 42", just so you know for future reference.

Enjoy your TV

 

[xpanda]

And they do make plasmas smaller than 42", just so you know for future reference.

Enjoy your TV

They don't sell them here, then. Goddamn cross-border retail police!

:>Grin>