Flat Screen TV Help

[Phils]

I'd just add that you might be more satisfied if you get a matte screen. Our 42" projection Toshiba came with a glossy screen and we endured it for five years before I learned from another forum how to reverse some screen panels to make it matte. MUCH BETTER!!! The reflections (of us) on the gloss screen was distracting both during the day and at night. Similar to you all sitting in front of a mirror on dark scenes.

We didn't make any rash decisions about which set to buy. I frequent BestBuy, usually to kill time while DW shops in other nearby stores.

Every trip in for over a year I'd compare the sets they had on display. EVERY time, the Toshiba projection sets had the best picture. Sure, display settings can be manipulated by salespesons but EVERY time all of the different sized Toshibas were obviously better than the other HDTV sets on display. Of course, this was 7 years ago and there weren't LCD or Plasma or any of the other superior technologies available today.

Let YOUR eyes do some of the judging.

Before I replace ours again, I'll make frequent visits again to compare with my own eyes. Of course, I hope that's not for another decade.

Phil

 

[MikePA]

I'd just add that you might be more satisfied if you get a matte screen. Our 42" projection Toshiba came with a glossy screen...

LCD = matte
Plasma = glossy

 

[rox]

The BEST $5.95 you will ever spend. Go on line and join Consumer Reports on line, one month is only $5.95. https://ec.consumerreports.org/ec/cro/order.htm?INTKEY=I5B0A1A&page=index&section=&pdxview=CRO
Before I would make a major purchase I would go on line to Consumer Reports, pay for a month and then cancel. I can share with you that I have done this at least 4 times, signed up on line and then cancelled at the end of a month. Consumer reports is very very very good about cancelling you the same day you call them, and not hitting up your credit card for another month. When making a major technology or appliance investment i always did this when I lived in the states. Best $5.95 you will ever spend. Plus I feel good about supporting the organization. If you do this, please do let us know (without infringing on their copyright) by paraphrasing what they recommend.

 

[mikim]

check out MountsAnd More.com for your wall mounts ... I found what I wanted there for less than 1/2 what I was finding locally.

 

[gordon21]

Check out the online sellers such as Dell. They can drop ship dozens of popular model TV's for a lot less than places like Circuit City or Best Buy. The big disadvantage to them is the shipping time which can run 4-10 days. But, you can save a lot of money. I did that last month and saved $500. I got a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD 1080p with a slew of inputs on the back including 3 HDMI inputs for $1699 delivered. Best Buy and Circuit City would not budge from their $2199 price on the same model. The box stores do keep inventory so you can take it with you. Keeping inventory costs money, but certainly not a $500 difference.

Make a chart of what inputs you will need. Some of the cheaper models have only 1 HDMI input. Always use HDMI if possible. It gives you the best picture and uses only one cord to carry everything (digital picture & audio). The next best picture is with the 3 wire component cable red-blue-green. Next down is S-video. If you are planning to use only the old fashioned inputs with a red, white and yellow RCA cables, then save your money and don't get the TV at all.

 

[garyfisher123]

Don't waste money on high end cables. Tests have shown no benefit. If you are planning on wall mounting the TV yourself, Sam's Club had the by far the best price I could find on a TV mount. They also have good prices on cables.

.

Be carefull where you post this or all the cable gurus may send a hitman after you!!

There are actully many tests that also prove just the opposite and show the better cables do pass a better signal. If you really get into Home Theater or high end stereo applications, there is no doubt that better cables do affect signal pass thru (ie silver will pass a cleaner signal than copper).

For what you are looking for I would also suggest checking out a DLP set for your living room. LCD, as others have suggested, is probably the way to go for your bedroom.

 

[gordon21]

Gary: This is the great thing about forums. Differing opinions. I feel that the plain cables are fine. A $18 HDMI cable is no different than the $89 Monster cable except the price and the fact that a Circuit City salesman used to make approx $15 commission on every one the last I knew. They are bigger, fatter, etc, but all that rubber does no good in sending digital data. Either the ones and zeroes get transmitted right or they don't. This isn't like car jumper cables where #4 wire and loads of rubber is better than #10 cable with a scrawny coating.

You mention high end audio. That can be a different story. Analog signals are a whole different beast.

I am sure there are scopes that could prove me wrong, but your AVERAGE person could never hear the difference between a monster cable and an $18 cable if he listened for hours. Anyone with that kind of hearing perception ability won't be asking us for advice anyway.

 

[garyfisher123]

I agree with you 100%. Your average person would never know if there was a difference. (Notice I said "if")

And trust me, I am not a Monster Cable guy....kind of like Bose speakers....

I have a full Audioquest set of cables (interconnects, speaker cable, etc) on my HT system and feel their quality is great compared to the price paid. I love my HT equipment about as much as my tractors so I have spent a ton of time studying to get what I think suits me best.

 

[dgl24087]

Another thought, look at the contrast ratio of the various brands. I've noticed that the lower cost sets, such as Olevia and Vizio, at Walmart, Sam's, etc., have significantly lower contrast ratios. The sets I have noticed are generally in the 1000:1 range. Mine is 10,000:1, and the black tones are markedly better.

 

[Blackbird_BX]

I've worked in electronics for more than 30 years, most of it spent in the digital realm, and I agree that in the analog world of high fidelity audio, quality cables are the worth the money. I spent good money on high quality cables when setting up my old component stereo system. The digital realm of high definition television is another world entirely. If the signal comes through at a high enough level for the discrimination circuits to reliable determine the difference between a 1 and a 0 you're golden. When it comes to HDMI and digital audio cables, once you hit the threshold of good enough you aren't going to see or hear any improvement. Good quality cables that have solid connectors that won't fall apart and decent shielding to prevent electrical interference work as well as the most expensive cables.

The thing that bothers me is that so many home theater systems lock you into the anemic speaker wires that come with them by using funky connectors for the speaker connections.

 

[Olmike]

Phil,I have that same tv.Can you tell about changing the screen?

 

[Phils]

Phil,I have that same tv.Can you tell about changing the screen?

You betcha Mike. PM comin' at ya.

Phil

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Many of us are on satellite due to living rurally. So, what are the costs involved with DirecTv when adding HD?

I know they are sending me offers every month that claim $10 extra for the HD signal. I think the offer even includes 1 new reciever. I guess my TIVO will be stuck on old style picture. What do the HD recievers cost? I have 3 TVs in my house.

 

[txdon]

Kyle, I'm also looking for a HDHDTV (High Definition Hard Drive) recorder.
I can pick up the HD Channels in Austin with HD rabbit ears. They look great, I don't think I can go back to non-HD ever again.

 

[dgl24087]

Many of us are on satellite due to living rurally. So, what are the costs involved with DirecTv when adding HD?

I know they are sending me offers every month that claim $10 extra for the HD signal. I think the offer even includes 1 new reciever. I guess my TIVO will be stuck on old style picture. What do the HD recievers cost? I have 3 TVs in my house.

The receiver was $99 when I bought my TV in March 07. No need to get an HD receiver if you don't have an HDTV to connect with it. Directv currently has 85 HD channels. I don't know about Tivo, but my VCR will not tape from the HD receiver, it doesn't recognize the signal and I get blank screen.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I went to directv.com and the pricing is cloudy if you are a current customer. New customers can get an HD reciever for free with a contract and an HD/DVR for $99 with a contract.

For current customers, I think the HD reciever is $99 and the DVR is $199. I may be wrong. Sometimes you can call and whine about how long you've been a good customer, threaten to jump ship, and get the better pricing.

 

[jejennings]

Tractor by net post 02/23/08

Hi folks. I stumble on this thread AFTER I purchased my bedroom TV but have read all the messages and decided to offer my two cents based on my experience. I selected a 40 LCD because it was brighter, lighter in weight, consumed less power, and was not as prone to reflections as similar plasma units.

Consumer Reports Magazine rated the Sony Bravia line as the best and as far as we could tell viewing different models in stores, they appeared to be correct. Online vendors had much lower prices than local stores but Having been burned before, I carefully investigated the outfits with the very lowest prices, and sure enough the two lowest price vendors had many complaints listed on å*µripe sites and the other had 33 complaints registered with the BBB. Three outfits tied for the third lowest price so I picked an Amazon vendor, knowing Amazon check them out pretty carefully.

On February 14th I ordered a Sony Bravia KDL-40V3000 from Electronic Express for $1239.72 shipped and a Peerless ST650P tilting wall mount direct from Amazon. The mount arrived in two days, the TV in five.

So that I could watch TV through the top portion of my bifocals without jamming my chin in my chest, I mounted the centerline of the TV 68 off the floor, tilting it for easy viewing from bed. We have Comcast cable service (Basic Plus) and although I had contemplated having to eventually rent a digital cable box, happily found that a straight cable connection to the TV works fine for our needs. The built-in tuner gives us HDTV from our local channels and the set does a great job of converting the analog channels and making them look really good. We don稚 use on-demand or pay TV, so until some compelling reason arises, we値l save the additional cost of a cable box.

Hope my experiece helps other.

Jack in New Jersey