I need a new TV

Adcadet

Adcadet

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hey crew,
any tips on TV's? The wife and I desperately need a new one. Our entertainment center will fit a 27" TV. We have $400 budgeted, though we'd like to say well under. Is HDTV worth it? Flat panel?
 
I don't know if it's possible to find an HD TV @ 27" for $400 or less...

I've had good luck with this TV so far. I've had it for 4 years now, but it's not HD.

6494019_ra.jpg

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1077628848235&skuId=6494019&type=product&cmp=++
 
I use the s-video for my DVD player and component video for my x-box. I could tell a difference in the x-box between the component and RCA cables, but I'd be hard pressed to see a diference between s-video and component on my TV.

I won't say component video is that important since my TV isn't HD. I'd definitely say you should try to get at least a TV with s-video. If you do get a HD, then I'd recommend component connections. Keep in mind that decent component video cables aren't cheap.
 
What he said.
Make sure the TV can handle all the stuff you need it to, if you want a home theatre system...
s
 
Adcadet said:
Is HDTV worth it? Flat panel?
Click to expand...
I'd have to say yes. I saw side by side comparisons at Best Buy, and even standard flat screen TVs can't compare with HDTVs, and that's with a regular NTSC signal. Large screen regular TVs look blurry close up but HDTVs don't. They're almost like looking out your window. As a result, I plan to buy an HDTV (30" to 32") when the prices drop a bit more. As for flat screen, there is no improvement in picture quality over a CRT HDTV but it obviously takes less space. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any plasma TVs smaller than about 40". Any flat screens less than that are ludicrously expensive LCDs. Regardless of technology, I think it'll be a while before flat screen TVs become affordable for the average consumer (i.e. $400 or less). Too bad since the flat screens are real space savers. Mounting one on the ceiling over my bed would have been a perfect spot.

My 19" broke almost a year ago and I haven't replaced it yet. I borrowed my mom's 13", and now that my brother is here I have his 27" on loan until he leaves. By then the prices of the HDTVs I like will hopefully fall from the current $800 to $1200 down to something a lot more affordable. My advice if you decide HDTV is for you is to just deal with your old set for another six months to a year. The price is only going to come down dramatically as the manufacturing volume reaches "critical mass". I'm thinking they might have good closeout sales after the Christmas holidays.
 
I think Adcadet is talking about a flat screen CRT TV, and I would certainly pick one up over a traditional bulgy faced TV. I can't stand the curvature distortion. There's no way you can get a 27" LCD for close to $400. And the utility of HD in a 27" screen could be questionable. What would your HD content be from? A good progressive signal from a DVD player will look just great on a non-HD 27" screen.

Perhaps look at getting a bigger entertainment center?
 
Pradeep said:
Perhaps look at getting a bigger entertainment center?
Click to expand...

That will require a bigger appartment (or in our case, an actual house, which we should have in a mere 6 years).

The signal will come from cable and a DVD player (which we have yet to purchase...any tips would be appreciated). We're also thinking about Tivo, though I'm not sure we can justify the extra $13/month or whatever, even though we do timeshift 90% of our TV watching (through VHS).
 
I believe Circuit City has a combo DVD player/Tivo currently for sale for $200 (regular $300). It comes with free Tivo Basic (i.e three days of listings, no season pass, but also no monthly sub). You can always pay and get the full Tivo sub later on if you need it. Prob the best way to go if you need both. Personally I like my Philips DV 642, it does PAL on NTSC and is region free with remote code. And does divx to boot.
 
There's a linear relationship between TV size and room size. My previous 32" display was a bit too small for my living room. I had to move everything around to make my DLP set anything other than a hulking monolith, though.

In a lot of small spaces (like my apartment, when I lived in one), 27" really is a perfect TV size. And the difference between HD and not, well, they're readily apparent almost without considering the size of the display.

In short, if 27" is what fits, get a 27" HD set and be glad you did it (if you can afford it). I see them for as little as $500, which isn't THAT much more than a quality 27" anyway.
 
Check dot pitch sizes, too. Seems to me when I bought my Panasonic, it's either 27 or 29, that going to 32 inches was much less clear, due to a lot bigger dot pitch. Sort of like having a 19 inch monitor next to a 21 inch...

Something about combs, and digital in and out, and all that stuff...
:wink:

s
 
At any given distance a larger TV is going to look more pixellated than a smaller one. Of course with HD you can sit closer than with a normal SD.

Digital inputs to look for if you want a little future proofing are DVI with HDCP, or the newer HDMI (basically DVI and audio in one tiny connector). A lot of the cable co's are now switching on the HDCP switch, so people who have DVI and no HDCP will have to go back to using their analog component inputs.
 
Leah and I went out tonight to Best Buy (didn't have time to hit any other place as it was late. For TV's we found this 27" HDTV for $500 (a bit high). It will fit in our entertainment center, is HDTV (after the wife saw HDTV vs. regular it was hard to get her to consider a regular TV), and matches the picture frames in the room. I do not believe it has DVI with HDCP or HDMI. It does have S-video and component, though. How big a deal is this lack of DVI, HDCP, or HDMI?

We also found this Tivo/DVD player which I believe is what Pradeep suggested. It also comes with the basic lifetime subscription. Is this basic a major hassle or is it totally do-able for the budget-minded student? It looks like we'd pay at least $80 for a DVD player, and since we timeshift like crazy Tivo looks like a very nice thing. Once Leah saw it, she was pretty hooked. And the 40-hour Tivo's are almost $200 by themselves!

Luckily we have a little extra money in the budget to go well beyond the $400 we had budgeted. Do you guys think the above setup would serve us well for the next 3-7 years? We really don't want to feel compelled to upgrade while I'm still in school, and we're happy to pay more now to save big later.
 
Santilli said:
Check dot pitch sizes, too. Seems to me when I bought my Panasonic, it's either 27 or 29, that going to 32 inches was much less clear, due to a lot bigger dot pitch. Sort of like having a 19 inch monitor next to a 21 inch...

Something about combs, and digital in and out, and all that stuff...
:wink:

s
Click to expand...

since we tend to sit relatively close to the TV, I'm all about looking into dot pitch. I'm hoping I can just go HDTV and call it good enough.
 
anybody know about running a TV show from my Tivo to my PC? Does anybody know of a way of doing this that isn't described as "overly-complex"?
 
Mercutio said:
It works like a VCR, more or less, so anything with a TV in can display its picture.
Click to expand...

But can I get it to play back a show over ethernet so I can watch it on my computer in the study* room.

* the term "study" is used loosely over summer months.
 
No. You'd need some kind of video distribution system for that. And that's realy money.

Or possibly a replay TV.

Me? I rolled my own system for handling that stuff. I can get A/V stuff anywhere in the 5 block radius of my house. :D
 
A ReplayTV will stream to or from a PC with no probs. Tivo requires a lot of hacking to get that working.

I believe the combo DVD/Tivo has 80 hour recording time, making it a really good deal. I would love to be able to go to free 3 day listings, instead of the current $9.95 I pay per month. If you are home at least every 3 days then I don't see a need for 10-14 days of listings.

BTW I believe you get the full Tivo service "Tivo Plus" for the first 45 days free, as a teaser if you will.

I would consider DVI to be more important with a digital TV (i.e using DLP/LCD/LCOS tech). For a CRT tube that uses analog in the end, I don't see a real benefit to a digital connection. Component connections will be fine. One thing tho is that the upconverting DVD players (the ones that upconvert to 720p or 1080i) only send the upconvert signal over the DVI connection (and in many cases require HDCP). They won't send upconvert over the component output - for copyright protection purposes apparently.

So basically the lack of DVI depends on what you plan to hook up to it. The HD cable boxes etc still have component outputs, because the vast majority of the HD sets sold over the last few years don't have DVI. But the people with DVI and no HDCP are going to be screwed. So the moral of the story, either forget about DVI, or make sure that any DVI set also supports HDCP. For example the current series of Dell LCD TVs have DVI, but no HDCP support. Not that they advertise that mind you.

The only prob I can see with that Panny is that it only has one set of component inputs, if you are using that for your DVD/Tivo then you are going to have probs hooking up an HD source such as cable/DirecTV etc. Unless you get a receiver with component switching.
 
well, seeing as how we're not going to digital cable for a while I don't think we're going to need two component inputs. I hope. Is S-video useful for anything other than running PowerPoint off of?
 
Svideo should be your standard connection for everything that doesn't do component. It's vastly better (and the difference is immediately visible to everyone, unlike the difference between Component and SVideo) than composite.
 
Composite carries all color and brightness information on the same wire.
SVideo splits chroma (color) and Luminence (brightness) into different wires.
Component splits the information into three entirely seperate cables, one each for Red, Green and Blue.

Contrary to popular belief, digital is not always better. One of the side effects of "digital" anything, is that all the data that's there is all the data that's there. In an analog system, there's always room for improvement (within the limitations of the media) as better and more efficient ways of resolving and carrying the information are developed.
"Digital" however, is generally means a highly inexpensive method of resolving and transporting data. That's good, because your recording and playback devices can be made very cheaply and have predictable quality. It's bad because the electronics can enforce undesireable copy protection, and can never at any point be improved or mined for additional quality.

HDMI is in part a system to implement copy protection on one's display, and digital video is video that isn't going to scale to future technology X.
 
Adcadet-
If you still plan on 'time-shifting' your viewing with a VCR, I would not bother spending much on a TV..the VHS signal is going to suck anyway.

But, if use TIVO or DVDs a lot, I can see spending some extra $ on a nicer TV (maybe even with HD). JMO

C
 
Clocker said:
Adcadet-
If you still plan on 'time-shifting' your viewing with a VCR, I would not bother spending much on a TV..the VHS signal is going to suck anyway.

But, if use TIVO or DVDs a lot, I can see spending some extra $ on a nicer TV (maybe even with HD). JMO

C
Click to expand...

The current thinking is to throw the VCR in the closet and go HDTV + Tivo.
 
I'm pretty sure I'll go with the 27" Panasonic HDTV and Toshiba DVD/Tivo. The only question is where to get the TV (only Best Buy carries the DVD/Tivo). The choices are Circuit City, Best Buy, or Ultimate Electronics (formerly Audio King). All are equally close. Any suggestions as to who's service and warranty are better?
 
Best Buy has pretty much been so so, and I've always liked Circuit City.

Great support on Palms. My Panasonic 27 has never been a problem, ever, and it's old...
s
 
I refuse to pay insane pricing just so I can have a "slim" DLP or LCD based rear projector.

I may buy a DLP when

a) prices drop to levels comparable to CRT rear projection,
b) 1920*1080 progressive is possible (yea I know 7" CRT isn't capable either).

Right now for a large screen you can't beat the bang for buck of a CRT rear proj.
 
Damn Pradeep how about seeing if you can get me job at the loading dock - I need a 53" HDTV too! :)
 
Pradeep said:
LOL, I no longer work at the loading dock. I'm in image processing now.
Click to expand...
In the "worst economy since the great depression", you who are not yet even a citizen (I assume), have managed to find two jobs in fairly short order? How can that be?

Seriously congratulations on the new job and that sweet TV you lucky bastard! :lol:
 
flagreen said:
Pradeep said:
LOL, I no longer work at the loading dock. I'm in image processing now.
Click to expand...
In the "worst economy since the great depression", you who are not yet even a citizen (I assume), have managed to find two jobs in fairly short order? How can that be?

Seriously congratulations on the new job and that sweet TV you lucky bastard! :lol:
Click to expand...

Indeed I'm just a mere "resident alien". First job never called me for orientation, they were having issues doing a background check on someone who at that stage didn't have a SS number :)

Current job I took Trumps advice and didn't leave the interview without the job :D Tho I wouldn't say the economy is rocking here in Upstate NY, I applied for one job for data-processing at the Red Cross and they had over 300 applicant, gave interviews to 20. They said I was overqualified :roll: Anyway my current job is great, could be one I'm in for a long time to come, and that's rare these days.
 
Glad to hear things have worked out well for you. Watching football on that TV should be awesome. Do you get cable? We have cable with cable company supplied TIVO and I'm spoiled after having used it for a few months now.
 
Sadly no cable down this road. hopefully we'll be moving to a place with cable soon. If not, I'll have to get some HD via satellite (but no HD locals then). Sadly the local CBS affiliate won't be moving to HD anytime soon, a digital SD signal is the best they offer, and they denied my waiver application, which I need so I can get CBS-HD off the Dish/DirecTv sats.

Right now content will be ReplayTV and progressive DVD. I may have to get an upsampling DVD player with HDMI now, to get some 1080i lovin going on. And this is going to be a great year for the Bills ;)

Had to go for the 47" as the 53" wasn't anywhere in stock, Monday delivery so I may have to call in a sickie :D
 
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