Thread: Going to buy a TV anything new I should look out for?

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I just bought a 19" LCD for our spare bedroom and the best deal I found was at www.amazon.com $199.95 You might want to check them out if for nothing other than a price reference.

Have fun!

We got a 42" Samsung a year ago and have been very happy with the picture. This is a 1040p/120mhz model. A bit pricey, but it did replace a CRT Toshiba that had to be 10 years old. Since we don't have a home theater set up, the sound suffers from that little bitty pair of speakers. This was about the same no matter what brand according to my ears.

Whatever you do, make sure that you do the warranty - ours had a buzz (I couldn't hear it, but my wife did) so I did the on-line warranty call. Within an hour I had a service guy call, within 2-3 days the TV had, I believe, everything new in it but the case!!

A note, there are currently very few plasma TV's now - most are LCD, which my research said was the best

Not so Old Buick:

ABC, FOX and PBS broadcast at 720p however, both CBS and NBC broadcast in 1080i. CBS has the most complete lineup of HDTV programming, covering their primetime in 1080i since 2002.

1080i (for interlaced) is a format that displays 1080 vertical lines of resolution on a screen and refreshes every other one from top to bottom and then refreshes the other 50% from top to bottom. 720p (for progressive) is a format that displays 720 vertical lines of resolution on a screen and refreshes (paints) them sequentially from top to bottom of the screen. (This is purported to give a smoother image than 1080i.)

1080i is really only “540p” because only 540 (half) of the lines are displayed at any given time. 720p displays all 720 line at any given time

Bear in mind – even though there are HDTV broadcasts in 1080i, many channels broadcast in 720p. As such, these broadcasts must be “upconverted” by a 1080i HDTV. This is particularly true of sports channels. Additionally, regardless of the capabilities of the display, the video encoding currently used for HD video allow a maximum of 30fps for 1080i, while 720p may be encoded at 60fps.

I prefer 720p, but your eyes need to be the judge.


Even if your set's display says it's getting 720p or 1080i, the program may be originating from a standard-definition source that's been “upconverted” at the network or the local station. In that case it will look better than that source would have looked via analog (because DTV, even at 480p, has much lower noise and better color resolution than analog formats like NTSC) but it won't really be in HD.

In some cases the resolution of what the network is broadcasting is lower than the stations itself, e.g. during a football game broadcast at 1080, the replays will be 480 because they're using a different source/feed than the live program.

Make sure have either HDMI or component cables.

Great Thread!

We got a Costco Sceptre brand LCD when our 15 year old RCA bit the dust three years ago. Great TV, reliable, cheap, 32" wide screen format. Bought it direct from Costco web site. If it died today it still would be worth what we paid for it!

BigTruckDriver wrote:

I figure I am going to be spending about 1000-1500 dollars on this tv , so what ever that would get is the size I am looking for.

Actually that amount of money can get you a lot of tv depending on what you like and the sale prices. You can easily get a 42" - 50" LCD or Plazma. Matter of fact one vendor that I deal with regularly is currently offering two 50" Panasonic plasma sets (Th-50PZ80U or Th-50PZ85U) for under $1500. Both are 1080P sets and both include free shipping and no sales taxes. The 720P sets should not be ignored. Their detail may not be quite as good, but you may never notice it. Plus you can get a excellent unit for less than your 1080P's.

If you are not going to wall mount the unit and size doesn't concern you, you can get some highly rated DLP rear projection TV's (all 1080P) from Mitsubishi or Samsung in 56" or 60" or larger sizes from $1100 to $1500.

However, I would think in the current market (a glut of big screens that went unsold over the past few months and new ones coming out every day) that you should be able to find comparable deals in your area. It's a fierce market with everyone vying for your dollars. So barter and always ask for additional discounts. There are a lot of excellent brands to choose from. My personal choices include, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Vizio, and Toshiba. But everyone has their own reasons and opinions. However I would avoid RCA, Westinghouse, Polaroid, Sanyo since their reliability is always in question. I see more RCA's returned than any other brand.

And whatever you decide, if you get a nationally known brand, forget about the extended warranty. Unlikely you will ever use it and big waste of money. These sets regularly have a life of about 20 years based on 10 hours a day viewing x 365 days/year. Most come with at least a 1 year full warranty.

Happy Shopping!