TV Shopping

Deward · Post by **Deward** » April 5, 2006, 5:38 pm

I am finally about done with my basement TV/Office and have been looking at TVs and projectors. I am looking at a budget of $1500-2500 with my wife being happier the closer it gets to the 1500 side. I have an L-shaped room with my computer off to one-side. Dimensions for the TV area (long side of L) are 14' by 11'. The computer area is about 12'x11'. I watch very little TV, primarily football and a couple network shows only. I watch a bunch of movies though and shows I have downloaded to my computer. I have Composite Video/Audio and S-Video running between the computer area and TV area.

I am not sure if a projector would work for me though because my ceilings are only 7'11" and I have to put the drop ceiling in yet. I do have the advantage that I could set the projector behind a wall and "shoot" it through a small hole for the lens. The problem I am seeing is that I have a 14' throw distance and only about a 5' max height for a picture. I would rather not have the projector sitting on the coffee table.

I have noticed that the 42" Plasmas are dropping in price pretty quick and some of those are very pretty. Projection TVs are pretty much out. Projection TVs don't seem to have a very good angle of viewing on them at all. I would rather not turn the TV because my area isn't that big.

So what is suggested for my budget constraints?

Thanks

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » April 5, 2006, 7:01 pm

If you want picture quality go with an HDTV.

If you want sheer size get a projector. It's pretty much that simple.

Panasonic makes a great plasma TV for a good price. There's still too many downsides to plasma for me to really justify the prices. Don't rule out DLP as an alternative to plasma just because it's projection. A decent quality Samsung or LG will have a similar picture and better colors than an LCD and you will be able to afford a larger screen at the same price point with a great viewing angle.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 5, 2006, 7:17 pm

kyoukan wrote:If you want picture quality go with an HDTV.

If you want sheer size get a projector. It's pretty much that simple.

Front projectors can also be considered HDTVs depending on their resolution just like other TV formats.

Picture quality is excellent for the right projectors but there are additional maintenance and lighting factors involved.

The biggest issue I have with DLP rear projection TVs is their viewing angle which isn't that great before the image dulls. If you're going to have a viewing area that requires a wide viewing angle, the plasmas are still the best (besides a projector in the right conditions).

Projector = best bang for the buck for those willing to maintain them and environment permitting. I'm not going to recommend them anymore as I don't think most want to do more than push a button and watch TV which is cool.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 5, 2006, 7:33 pm

I just picked up a Samsung DLP 50" HDTV on Sunday. I love the picture. My DVD's look so much better than TV now though, so I went and scheduled Directv to come out and replace my dish and main receiver with HD stuff. I can't wait!

Here is the TV and stand.

Cost was very reasonable too. TV itself was only $1999

My living room is similar is size. If I had it to do all over I think I would have gone with a 46".

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » April 5, 2006, 9:40 pm

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:I just picked up a Samsung DLP 50" HDTV on Sunday. I love the picture. My DVD's look so much better than TV now though, so I went and scheduled Directv to come out and replace my dish and main receiver with HD stuff. I can't wait!

Here is the TV and stand.

Cost was very reasonable too. TV itself was only $1999

My living room is similar is size. If I had it to do all over I think I would have gone with a 46".

That, sir, is a very very nice TV

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » April 6, 2006, 12:05 am

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:My living room is similar is size. If I had it to do all over I think I would have gone with a 46".

no you wouldn't.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » April 6, 2006, 2:39 am

If I had it to do all over I think I would have gone with a 46".

I'd buy a bigger house first! 50" is the bare minimum!

Drolgin Steingrinder · Post by **Drolgin Steingrinder** » April 6, 2006, 6:37 am

If I volunteered the size of my TV, I know my manhood would be questioned by all you freaks.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » April 6, 2006, 7:15 am

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:If I volunteered the size of my TV, I know my manhood would be questioned by all you freaks.

bah, go ahead and fess up

I recently purchased a 30" Sony widescreen hdtv and spent ~$720(the heavy conventional kind but still gives the best picture quality). We considered the 34", but the cost difference was ~$450. Our living room, where the tv is located, is pretty big as it's an old house so the screen could be small for those on the far side of our two couches that are loosly cattycornered. However, with the digital cable and actual widescreen hdtv programming, it's still easy to loose yourself in the picture quality. If you are sitting ~8' or less from your TV, you really don't need anything bigger than a 34" screen.

If you don't turn over tv's every 3 years, the conventional style really is the best. While very heavy (furniture w/ wheels solved that problem), the picture quality is great and the only maintenance needed is to occasionally dust it.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » April 6, 2006, 9:17 am

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:If I volunteered the size of my TV, I know my manhood would be questioned by all you freaks.

You call that a TV?.... I thought it was some wierd Danish picture frame with moving images...

I didnt know TV's were made that small.

A good friend of mine picked up a Sanyo Z4 720p LCD the other day with a spare bulb and 3yr warranty for $1699 shipped... tuned it last night and Im pretty impressed. If you do decide to do a projector... you just messed up your wiring... and you should have run DVI or DB15 from the PC to display location.

You could also look at the new line of LCD's from Sony.. pretty cheap and damn nice looking. Thier 32" is about $1700... model is S32U100 or sumtin.

Deward · Post by **Deward** » April 6, 2006, 11:06 am

I won't go less than 40". From eyes to TV is over 13'. I don't buy TVs very often and I want this one to last for 10 years. I bought my last one in 1999. I intend to go HDTV as well even though I don't have digital cable. I will likely get digital cable for football season and then cancel it again afterwards. Most I watch movies and would like to play computer and xbox games on it.

I want at least a 60 degree viewing angle on it. That leaves off a lot of the projection type screens and a lot of the LCDs I have seen. Plasma really seems the nicest so far.

Anyone seen this site. http://www.lumenlab.com I might try to build my own projector. It seems god awful cheap to do so and might be worth the $300 to try it first.

Calixte · Post by **Calixte** » April 6, 2006, 11:46 am

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:I just picked up a Samsung DLP 50" HDTV on Sunday. I love the picture. My DVD's look so much better than TV now though, so I went and scheduled Directv to come out and replace my dish and main receiver with HD stuff. I can't wait!

Here is the TV and stand.

Hubby and I have the same TV and we are VERY happy with it. The picture is beautiful, especially programs in HD... very crisp and clear.

The only downside, as Winnow mentioned, is that the view from the side is not as good as sitting directly in front of the tv. In my experience, however, it's not really that bad either, so I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor in whether you'd consider buying this tv or not.

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » April 6, 2006, 11:51 am

Is anyone else still in shock that you just can't find a good TV under $800ish any more?

When I bought my house in 1999 I got a 36" RCA that provided excellent quality picture for around $300-$400. Now you have all these 32" tube TVs around that price they're marketing to the video game crowd and from there it shoots up to $1-3K for a TV.

I don't get it. It is a TELEVISION FFS.

I'm not dropping $2-3K to watch 24 once a week and for my daughter to watch her Dora the Explorer DVDs, but I don't feel I should have to turn back the hands of time either and go to some sort of mini-TV. My 36" TV is getting repaired and I'm just praying they get it fixed and soon because I can't afford the prices they charge for new ones these days.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » April 6, 2006, 11:56 am

Ashur wrote:Is anyone else still in shock that you just can't find a good TV under $800ish any more?

When I bought my house in 1999 I got a 36" RCA that provided excellent quality picture for around $300-$400. Now you have all these 32" tube TVs around that price they're marketing to the video game crowd and from there it shoots up to $1-3K for a TV.

I don't get it. It is a TELEVISION FFS.

I'm not dropping $2-3K to watch 24 once a week and for my daughter to watch her Dora the Explorer DVDs, but I don't feel I should have to turn back the hands of time either and go to some sort of mini-TV. My 36" TV is getting repaired and I'm just praying they get it fixed and soon because I can't afford the prices they charge for new ones these days.

I have a Sony 27" TV that's a few years old now. Still working fine and I'm not really interested in having to give even more money to my cable provider for Digital Service and a set top box.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 6, 2006, 12:00 pm

If you are just looking for a replacement for the TV you already have, there are plenty of cheaper options. I was shopping around for the last few weeks and ended up with http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/Slim ... HKXXAA.asp for less than $500.00. You mentioned the 3-400 price points, and that was going to be even easier to fill for me. The only thing was that I wanted something with an HDTuner, and I did not want a widescreen TV. From there, I noticed that the SlimFit models would work great without any other purchases (new stand etc.) in the space I already had. That space also would prevent a larger TV from being practical at all. It has a small foot print, really is slim, and it had the features I wanted/needed. Granted the one I got is normally 599 at best buy, but I found a perfect condition (minus manual) open-box, and I used one of the coupons from bestbuy.com for an additional 20% off the open-box price.

Jice Virago · Post by **Jice Virago** » April 6, 2006, 1:38 pm

My wife and I picked up a rear projection Mitsubishi 65" HD TV about two years ago. Its really not noticably worse than a plasma, unless sunlight interferes with it. We paid $1600 for it at that time and could not be happier with it, though it does not support 780p, which is a bummer for certain XBox games. Its great for football and DVD watching though, and the 16:9 aspect PS2 and Xbox games look amazing on it. If you want the biggest picture for the buck, thats probably the way to go, especially with the low head clearance in your basement. Getting it down those steps will be interesting, though hehe.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » April 6, 2006, 1:44 pm

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:If I volunteered the size of my TV, I know my manhood would be questioned by all you freaks.

I don't even have a TV...so you can at least be one up on someone

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » April 6, 2006, 4:10 pm

Ashur wrote:Is anyone else still in shock that you just can't find a good TV under $800ish any more?

When I bought my house in 1999 I got a 36" RCA that provided excellent quality picture for around $300-$400. Now you have all these 32" tube TVs around that price they're marketing to the video game crowd and from there it shoots up to $1-3K for a TV.

I don't get it. It is a TELEVISION FFS.

I'm not dropping $2-3K to watch 24 once a week and for my daughter to watch her Dora the Explorer DVDs, but I don't feel I should have to turn back the hands of time either and go to some sort of mini-TV. My 36" TV is getting repaired and I'm just praying they get it fixed and soon because I can't afford the prices they charge for new ones these days.

You can get a non HDTV CRT with a 34" screen for less than $700, and that is from a reliable manufacturer from Sony.

If you want HD then you have to pay for it.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 7, 2006, 1:29 pm

Okay...update. The Directv guy came over and put in the HD Tivo Receiver. At this moment, ot worth the $499. There are only 10 channels. The ESPN and ESPN HD look uber. The HBO HD only looks as good as the quality the movie was originally filmed in. /shrug. Maybe later on down the road it will be worth it, but I have wasted my money me thinks. /sigh

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » April 7, 2006, 1:58 pm

I don't care about HD, I don't care if the screen is a nano-asshair thin. All I want is a good-sized screen and a decent picture at a price I don't need to take out a home equity loan for.

Neost · Post by **Neost** » April 7, 2006, 6:10 pm

I'm waiting on my dishnetwork to bring the dish I need for HD. Hve the hd reciever already. Frickin' dishnetwork screwed my original order up, got hte rcvr but no new dish because they hadn't keyed my HD programming correctly.

Whey they would let their system sell and HD rcvr with no HD programming is beyond me. Why would I drop the extra money if I wasn't going to get HD?

Anyway, they resent the work order and it pushed me out from Mar 25 install to Apr 15th install for dish.

So then I ask them to just send me the dish, I'll install it myself but oh nos, we can't do that it must be installed by a professional or it voids the warranty. stupid bastages.

anwya, I'll be using my HD rcvr with the projector I bought last year. It does every HD mode right up to 1080i.

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » April 8, 2006, 10:51 pm

Yay - repaired for $200ish hopefully I'll squeeze another 5 years of life out of this thing.

Vaemas · Post by **Vaemas** » April 9, 2006, 12:10 am

Both of the Sony TVs I have were purchased with my Sony points. 27" and 29" freebies! Flat screen is

.

Not to mention free. No complaints from me!

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » April 9, 2006, 3:32 am

Ashur wrote:I don't care about HD, I don't care if the screen is a nano-asshair thin. All I want is a good-sized screen and a decent picture at a price I don't need to take out a home equity loan for.

what is a decent size tv for you and what is a price that makes you not have to take out a home equity loan? good non HD CRT tv's are dirt cheap.

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » April 10, 2006, 11:59 am

for those with short attention spans, here is a summary of the text below:
42" sony grand wega 3LCD rear projection set = yaaaaaaaaaaay!

i've done a lot of tv shopping/research for myself and friends over the past few months. i have the 50" sony xbr rear projection, which has a gorgeous picture, though it's framed in shiny plastic and large oddly placed speakers. my second set is the philips 26" LCD, and the picture is great for the price. it was sitting next to the 26" sony xbr lcd, and the improvement definitely wasn't worth twice the price.

if you go with a plasma, you're going to have to mount it, which can be a pain to do yourself. plasmas can also have a problem with burn in, but assuming you're a semi-responsible adult you should be okay in that respect. i do like the pioneer elites though, because they come with a separate input box, so you don't have to run a shitton of wires to your tv when you mount it. but if you want a completely clean look, then you have to have somewhere to put your inputs and then be able to control them remotely, if you hide them in a closet or another room.

if i were buying for your room, i'd go with the sony 42" rear projection LCD is a great set. it runs $1799. i'm a big fan of the sony technology, and the picture is great, especially for the price. the reason i like this set over the samsung DLP was that it has more component inputs and the side input has component as well. the samsung version only has composite and s-video on the side. i'm not sure about the samsung, but the sony has VGA in. i've also never played around with the samsung's UI, but i really like what the sony has to offer.

Drolgin Steingrinder · April 10, 2006, 12:56 pm

Chidoro wrote:
Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:If I volunteered the size of my TV, I know my manhood would be questioned by all you freaks.
bah, go ahead and fess up

Actually, I own two TVs. A 14" Sony from circa 1975 and a 13" Sony from around 1989. Combined, that's 27 inches!

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » April 11, 2006, 11:29 pm

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:
Chidoro wrote:
Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:If I volunteered the size of my TV, I know my manhood would be questioned by all you freaks.
bah, go ahead and fess up
Actually, I own two TVs. A 14" Sony from circa 1975 and a 13" Sony from around 1989. Combined, that's 27 inches!

27" of manhood sure sounds like a lot to me

I don't care about HD, I don't care if the screen is a nano-asshair thin. All I want is a good-sized screen and a decent picture at a price I don't need to take out a home equity loan for.

Seriously, did you read about my TV purchased this past Jan? The $720 30" widescreen from Sony?
Trust me, I too can't justify a huge expense for something like a TV, but the one I ended up getting is in your price range and has an excellent picture. It also has a ton of connections so if your Disney collection is mostly on tape, there are still connectors to get the dvd player plugged in(and digital cable, and surround stereo, etc etc).

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » April 12, 2006, 12:48 am

why would you pay for digital cable if you didnt have an HDTV?

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » April 12, 2006, 3:44 am

On Demand!

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 12, 2006, 9:31 am

kyoukan wrote:why would you pay for digital cable if you didnt have an HDTV?

Digital cable and the HD options aren't the same...at least they aren't in Time Warner's packages.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 12, 2006, 1:23 pm

Boogahz wrote:
kyoukan wrote:why would you pay for digital cable if you didnt have an HDTV?
Digital cable and the HD options aren't the same...at least they aren't in Time Warner's packages.

Correct. Digital cable is different than HD. However, you cannot receive HD channels without switchign to an HD box.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 12, 2006, 1:56 pm

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
kyoukan wrote:why would you pay for digital cable if you didnt have an HDTV?
Digital cable and the HD options aren't the same...at least they aren't in Time Warner's packages.
Correct. Digital cable is different than HD. However, you cannot receive HD channels without switchign to an HD box.

Incorrect, you can get OTA signals from local stations if they broadcast in HD as well.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » April 12, 2006, 5:21 pm

Boogahz wrote:
Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
kyoukan wrote:why would you pay for digital cable if you didnt have an HDTV?
Digital cable and the HD options aren't the same...at least they aren't in Time Warner's packages.
Correct. Digital cable is different than HD. However, you cannot receive HD channels without switchign to an HD box.
Incorrect, you can get OTA signals from local stations if they broadcast in HD as well.

IF your TV has an OTA HD tuner.... also if you have an ATSC HD tuner you can get your local channels from most cable companies without the digital packages.

Digital Cable gives you an onscreen interactive program guide, a larger channel selection + the ability to get premium channels in HD if you have the correct cable box. Most companies are doing things like ondemand video and music stations with thier digital offerings also.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 12, 2006, 5:51 pm

Ransure wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
kyoukan wrote:why would you pay for digital cable if you didnt have an HDTV?
Digital cable and the HD options aren't the same...at least they aren't in Time Warner's packages.
Correct. Digital cable is different than HD. However, you cannot receive HD channels without switchign to an HD box.
Incorrect, you can get OTA signals from local stations if they broadcast in HD as well.
IF your TV has an OTA HD tuner.... also if you have an ATSC HD tuner you can get your local channels from most cable companies without the digital packages.

Digital Cable gives you an onscreen interactive program guide, a larger channel selection + the ability to get premium channels in HD if you have the correct cable box. Most companies are doing things like ondemand video and music stations with thier digital offerings also.

I do have the tuner. My "incorrect" comment was directed at mid's comment that you cannot receive the signal without the box.

A person can get a better selection through the cable company and their box, but it is possible to get OTA broadcasts in HD.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 13, 2006, 10:30 am

Aye. But, if you want HD channels from your cable company you will need the digital cable box.

You go ahead and get a special tuner to pull your local tv station via HD. I'll just get it automatically from my cable company or in my case from DirecTV

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 13, 2006, 11:58 am

I don't need any special tuner. The TV came with it. You just need an antenna. The only reason I am not bothering with the Cable Company option right now is that they have shit for channel selection.