HDTV Buying Advice

[bigopey76]

It is back to brewerfan.net that I come to seek your expert advice once again. My old television has now seen its final sunset and the lack of media, especially televised Crew games, has driven me to the point of lunacy. I have looked around and decided that due to the new congressional television laws and falling prices that it may be time to invest in an HDTV. I have searched around on all the major sites (cnet.com, bestbuy, circuit city, ect) and still haven't found great answers to these questions, so any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated:

 

1) This television will be in a medium sized apartment bedroom and I am under a budget (Sub-$1000) so i'm looking between a 26/27in and a 32 in TV. Is there an advantage in terms of picture quality to going for the bigger set?

2) Again, through my search, I have landed on three brands: Samsung, Olevia, and Vizio. The Samsung would be a 26 with the Olevia and Vizio either 27 or 32. Are these lesser known brands any good? Is it worth it to sacrifice the size to go with the better known brand (Samsung)

3) Is there an "ideal buying time" like there is with computers and other electronics? Where is the best place to buy? Should I go with extended warranty?

 

Thanks again for any help that some of the HDTV aficionados on the board can provide.

[FVBrewerFan]

1) As the picture size gets larger, the quality actually gets worse. Although worse is all relative. I can't imagine you would notice the difference in quality between a 27 in and 32 in. Brand, model, etc. will make a difference, but not the size between 27 and 32.

 

2) Some people are passionate about brands. I would suggest looking at reviews and AV forums that discuss this. ultimately, it's always about price vs quality. For example, I just got some knock off brand monitor and honestly can not tell the difference compared to the name brands. And it was $100 less.

 

3) Ideal time to buy any electronics is when new models are out, and you can get the previous model for significantly less $, and usually very little difference in quality/features. Extended Warranty is again a personal preference. I generally don't buy extended warranties, but bought one for my largest and most expensive HDTV.

[BoneDaddyKool]

about 4 months ago, I bought a 51' Samsung for 1000 plus tax and I love it. I would strongly recommend a Samsung brand, as I know two other people besides myself, that have bought a Samsung and had no problems. The picture quality for non HD programming does get worse the larger you go, but for HD programs, especially sports in HD, there is nothing like it. It just rocks! I don't know what your cable/dish deal is, but I give two thumbs up for a Samsung brand.

 

Hope that helps.

[bigopey76]

Thanks for the replies so far. The Samsung TVs look great but the allure of a cheaper TV is great. One more question to add while I'm at it. Are there any must-have accessories for an HDTV? I've read that expensive cables are essentially the main source of profit for electronics stores (Is this right?), but is there anything else I would need to get?

[bjkrautk]

I'll give some of my basic HDTV tips, then try to address some of your specific issues. For reference, my HDTV is a 34" Sony CRT (XBR 970).

 

Things to look for:

 

- Contrast ratio -- higher is better, as it measures the difference between black and white areas. Cheaper LCD's have black levels that look gray.

 

- TV Tuners -- Digital tuner allows for Over-the-Air (OTA) reception of high definition channels, provided your local stations are broadcasting in HD. A QAM tuner allows you to view your local HD signals....and anything else your local cable station leaves unlocked. Cable Card support means that you can rent/purchase a device that plugs into your HDTV, and eliminates the need for a digital cable box. (Note: the latest version of TiVo - which supports HD - also supports cable cards.) If a TV is labeled a 'monitor,' it doesn't have any tuners in it.

 

- Inputs -- Ideally, you should have at least a component (the red, blue, and green colored plugs) input for every device you want to watch in HD. HDMI looks to be the standard connection going forward, so the more of those inputs you have, the better. (You could always buy a home theater reciever, or some other sort of switcher, but IMO that will generally prove to be more expensive than just routing all of your inputs through the TV.)

 

- Picture quality -- Hardest thing to measure in a store, since the viewing environment is so very different from your home. Additionally, most manufacturers include a mode that's very bright and looks good in the store, but drastically reduces the life of your TV if you don't adjust the settings at home (which is why the setting is referred to as 'torch mode' over on the AVS forum). Ideally, you should be allowed to adjust the settings a bit to see what you're really getting.

 

- Remote Control -- Sounds stupid, but not every remote is user-friendly. If you like to adjust settings on the fly (especially when watching 4:3 'standard def' images on your 16:9 widescreen HDTV), simple controls will come in handy.

 

- Native Resolution -- 1080p is a buzzword in the industry, but the only things that actually provide a 1080p image are HD DVD / Blu-Ray movies &/or some PS3/XBox 360 games. TV networks tend to broadcast in either 1080i or 720p: you should get a set that recognizes and accepts both of these resolutions (as well as the SD carry-overs of 480i and 480p). You probably won't find a 1080p set in your price range for quite some time.

 

Now, on to the specifics:

1) Most people like to sit further away from larger HDTVs....but there's really a personal preference issue. In the store, try to distance yourself as far from the TVs as you can (or as far as you would in your bedroom) and decide how much it matters to you. If you can get a feel for picture quality at that distance, that would be the bigger determinant.

 

2) I've heard about serious issues with Samsung CRT's (the images tend to 'bow' in towards the center) and they at least used to save money by marketing a number of HD Monitors, but their picutre quality is generally considered pretty good. I've also heard decent things about Vizio and Olevia (my friend bought one of their LCDs based on my advice and loves it). Whatever you decide, I'd recommend browsing the AVS Forum message boards....as there are some pretty serious videophiles out there who can be a valuable resource.

 

3) I could say that you'll find some decent price drops around the holiday season in most years....but that really doesn't matter if you want an HDTV in the short-term.

 

IMO, the best place to buy the system is whoever has the lowest price (provided they have a decent return policy). If you join something like the Best Buy Rewards Zone, it could save you $20-50 if you catch the right offer at the right time.

 

Extended Warranties are usually something I don't like. The failure rate isn't nearly as high as the premium you have to pay for the warranty (that's why companies sell them, to make money). That being said, it doesn't matter if 99% of the sets work perfectly fine if you bought a 1-percent-er. The extended warranty is largely a measure of your risk aversion (I bought one, FWIW).

 

 

EDIT: monoprice.com &/or bluejeanscable.com are your friends. There's no real difference in picture quality when dealing with digital signals (like DVI or HDMI). Analog cables (like component) experience far more degradation over long distances (or bad cables). If you have a bad HDMI cable...it won't look fuzzy, it will look pixelated (as not all of the image is being sent properly). Almost always, a $5 HDMI cable will look just as good as a $50-100 HDMI cable.

[cweber39]

go to www.cnet.com for good reviews of different TVs. Research, research, research!

 

My only tip do not buy Best Buy's brand TV Insignia. They are junk.

 

I own a 50" Pioneer Plasma, and could not be happier.

[1992casey]

Mostly from reading here, I've heard good reports on Panasonic, Samsung, Pioneer, and Hitachi.

 

Chances seem excellent that you'll be looking at LCD. Plasmas don't come that small. However, if you have space and the price is right, 42 inch plasmas are extremely popular. I've occasionally run across a 37 inch plasma, but for practical purposes, 42 inches seems to be the smallest size available.

 

The only major picture quality issue I've seen is with analog cable channels. (Unfortunately, those tend to be the most watched channels.) From my experience, digital standard definition works fine.

[bigopey76]

Yeah, I will be looking only at LCD HDTVs. Putting source information into perspective, I live in Madison.

[FVBrewerFan]

Very important point there. When you're at the store looking at HD picture quality, remember that the vast majority of programming is NOT in HD. Therefore, it is important to check out what the analog channels look like on each set your evaluating.

 

My in laws got an HD set that looks great in HD, but the analog channels are really pretty pathetic.

 

I agree you should use HDMI cables from your set to your converter. You don't have to get top of the line.

[1992casey]

An issue we found when I was helping my parents shop was that the stores didn't necessarily subscribe to cable, using satellite instead. That's an issue because DirecTV and DISH pictures are going to be better.

[endaround]

Everything I've heard about Olevia and Vizio has been good. Especially Olevia. Sam's Club tends to have very good prices.

[dogs with bees in their mo]

Olevia's LCDs tend to get good reviews and there seems to be a 32 or 37" for sale for under $700 almost every week if you check all of the Sunday ads from Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. Target has one this week for $688

[endaround]

And with Target you can get an extra 10% off if you buy with their credit card (assuming you don't already have one).

[brewcrewreview]

I've heard great things about Olevia too. I bought the 37 incher (mentioned in an earlier post) in the living room for $499 at Circuit City over Memorial Day weekend on a special sale. Now it's a little under $700. It's only a 720 with a 1200:1 or 1600:1 contrast ratio but it will be fine for the living room.

Today, for the rec room, I bought a beautiful 52" LCD Sharp with the 120hz (essential for ultimate sports viewing) and 10,000:1 contrast ratio for only $2,729 on buydig.com. It goes for $3,600-$4,000 everywhere else.

Buydig.com averages 4 and a half stars out of five in over 2,000 reviews on Amazon. Better yet, the site has free shipping and NO SALES TAX which is huge.

I would recommend to go on that site and see what they have.

Take the time to research online and go to stores before you make your purchase. Timing too is everything as I got lucky to snag the Olevia at the cheapest price by far that I've seen. Olevia does get nice reviews and seems to be a great set for the price

[bigopey76]

A parallel question: does anyone know what type of costs are involved in getting HD programming through Charter in Madison? I will be in an apartment with others, so I will need a seperate converter box and all the other stuff, I believe. I would call Charter but I hate talking with their customer service personel

[Diamond Glove]

At Charter, just over $90.00 a month for basic, extended basic and hdtv. Purchased the 42in Sony LCD two years ago from Best Buy, love it. Found it helpful to read customer reviews on the Circuit City website. Knew I'd done well when a friend's husband who researches purchases to the anal http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif nanosecond of perfection bought the same tv.

[bjkrautk]

Just to keep this thread going, an interesting Slate.com article about one of the perks of buying a QAM Tuner.

 

Mine does exactly the kind of thing that the author is talking about.

[bigopey76]

I'm starting to heavily lean towards getting an Olevia. I'm not sure whether to go with a 32 or 37 in though (i've ruled out 27 as being too small). I think I'll wait until August/Sept to get it though to see if any price drops happen or any new products are released. One more questions, and thanks by the way for all the help provided already. Does anyone know how the new FCC regulations are going to effect tv in 2009? I have heard two different stories: 1)DTV will be the new standard, so not much will change, unless you use an old analog tv and 2)HDTV will be the new standard, so investing in a non-HDTV is not a wise move.

[bjkrautk]

My understanding of the 2009 FCC timetable is this:

- TV Stations cut off their analog broadcasts (and go digital only).

 

 

...that's it. If you have cable tv, this isn't going to affect you at all. If you're watching OTA television on an HDTV (or a Standard Def TV with a digital tuner), nothing changes.

 

If you watch analog OTA programming, you should plan on buying a digital TV tuner before 2009.

[xisxisxis]

I'm starting to heavily lean towards getting an Olevia. I'm not sure whether to go with a 32 or 37 in though (i've ruled out 27 as being too small). I think I'll wait until August/Sept to get it though to see if any price drops happen or any new products are released.

 

I'm late to the party....Ben did a great job of summarizing some of the features to evaluate....from buying 2 HDTV in little over a year (1 for me, 1 for my mom) my only advice is that you shouldn't listen to anyone's opinion about picture quality except your 2 eyes. I read some of the reviews before going into the store and it was clear that what I liked and disliked was different than what the reviews said and what other people in the store liked (and they were different from each other as well). Panasonic had a highly rated Plasma model (about a year ago), but in the store a Phillips Plasma model looked better to me (they were all playing the same digital HD feed). Really let your eyes be the the gauge you use to evaluate which model "looks" the best, then evaluate other options and decide which is the best.

[brewcrewreview]

I like what xisxisxis just posted.

In all of the research and questioning I did, the bottom line is gauge all of the information but get what you like the best.

It was funny going to American, Best Buy, Colders, and Circuit City and getting completely different answers and opinions from everybody.

[logan82]

Like bjkrautk said 1080p is probably out of your price range, but I would like to add that you can't really tell the difference between 1080p and 720p untill you get into the sets that are 42" and bigger.