NEW TV time - need advice though

otispunkmeyer

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well i dont personally need advice, but my dad is now eyeing up a new tv to replace the absolutely stellar 36 inch sony WEGA CRT we currently have.

so it will be something in the 40-42inch range, and obviously will need to be HD ready with HDMI and all that.

but whats better

Plasma? or LCD?
 
well i doubt it will be used for gaming lol

maybe only to try out the HD-DVD addon for the 360.


he's lookin at sony's bravia range i think, so iguess it shouldnt matter too much since they are good tv's
 
Honestly, LCD TVs are getting better, larger and cheaper. Sony don't even produce Plasmas anymore. Burn-in isn't really an issue with current plasma TVs. Sony Bravias are quite good, and the new X series that have been released have excellent resolutions.

There are two main HD resolutions TVs come in. 768p (1024x768 ) and 1080p (1920x1080). Be prepared to pay a lot more for the 1080p. There is also 1080i, which is rubbish, and just interlaces the standard HD signal.

I am currently looking at something to replace my Sony WEGA (which I bought a year ago, but being my male self, I'm not happy and need something bigger).

I'll be after a Panasonic 42inch HD IDTV, simply because it is quite cheap (cheaper than most equivalent sized LCDs) and Panasonic produce quite good quality TVs.
 
yeah 1080p sets are wallet bustingly pricey

i'd imagine it will be a 720p set up, and probably no bigger than 42inch since any bigger and it really will take over the room

not to mention HDTV really hasnt taken off yet here. sky hd is out and about but the amount of channels it offers really dont justify the price.

so in essence HD really isnt a requirement, but you'd be barmy if you didnt buy a HDTV at this point in time
 
Well, isn't 42in + 720p a bad idea? Too low res for the size I thought...
 
Well, isn't 42in + 720p a bad idea? Too low res for the size I thought...

well i dunno

i guess we'd have to go to the shop and physically look

either way its still gonna be better than 480i on 36inches :p
 
SAMSUNG SAMSUNG SAMSUNG SAMSUNG SAMSUNG !!!1
 
yeah lol

samsung, pioneer, sony, all good makes
 
Toshiba are a good make too. saw one the other week that was around 42in but still crystal clear. to be honest i would be prepared to pay extra money for a 1080p. Sony TV s i've seen in the UK are not good quality. crappy low res pictures on all but the ?2000+ models
 
do you *need* a flat panel? if not, i would highly highly highly recommend a 1080p Samsung DLP set. they will be all of 12" deep, and spectacular.

i have been running a 46" 720p DLP from Sammy for 3 years now, i love it. I have HDMI, DVI, 2x component, 3x composite, 1x VGA - and the new ones have even more to offer. Texas Instruments DLP technology (the DLP Sammy uses) is tremendous, and has been stellar in performance. sure, a replacement bulb is $300, but easy to do at home, and most likely not needed for at least 5 years - and the prices have continued to drop as more people buy DLPs.

If you really want a wall-mount, i would go for a Sammy 40" LCD, 1080p if you want to spring, but really not going to be noticeable unless you are sitting closer than about 5 feet away from it - at a far (10 feet?) distance, 720p and 1080p are pretty much indicernable until you get over 50" -ish TV.
 
I've had a 50" Sony RP-LCD for three years now, it does 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. The native resolution on it is 1280x720, so I run everything at 720p. Xbox 360 games looks awesome and I plan on getting the HD-DVD drive for it pretty soon. I can take some pics if you want to know what the games/HD looks like.

This 42" model is similar to the one we have, but obviously is newer. The 1080p sets from Sony only come in 50" or bigger.
 
Toshiba are a good make too. saw one the other week that was around 42in but still crystal clear. to be honest i would be prepared to pay extra money for a 1080p. Sony TV s i've seen in the UK are not good quality. crappy low res pictures on all but the ?2000+ models

well he spent over ?2k on the last TV, he earns more now so im assuming here that he'll be looking at spending a similar amount on a new TV
 
do you *need* a flat panel? if not, i would highly highly highly recommend a 1080p Samsung DLP set. they will be all of 12" deep, and spectacular.

i have been running a 46" 720p DLP from Sammy for 3 years now, i love it. I have HDMI, DVI, 2x component, 3x composite, 1x VGA - and the new ones have even more to offer. Texas Instruments DLP technology (the DLP Sammy uses) is tremendous, and has been stellar in performance. sure, a replacement bulb is $300, but easy to do at home, and most likely not needed for at least 5 years - and the prices have continued to drop as more people buy DLPs.

If you really want a wall-mount, i would go for a Sammy 40" LCD, 1080p if you want to spring, but really not going to be noticeable unless you are sitting closer than about 5 feet away from it - at a far (10 feet?) distance, 720p and 1080p are pretty much indicernable until you get over 50" -ish TV.

ill keep that in mind

flat TFT/LCD isnt really a requirment no, so DLP can certainly be considered
 
Supposedly Dell's are quite good too...
 
I just got myself a new Pioneer 50" plasma a couple of weeks ago and it is great. Would recommend it to anyone else. A little more expensive then the other buy you get a 5 year warranty and installation etc.

The install was great. He showed up on time, set it up, connected with all the best cables for the situation, connected my 360 and Wii to test it all and configure those as well and took everything away with him.
 
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