So my TV is going out. I’d like to buy a new one and I’d sooner buy an HDTV since it looks like that whole standard change that was supposed to happen years ago is finally gonna go through in the next year or so.
The problem is I can only spend about $400. I really don’t mind a CRT, because my TV is in a corner anyway.
The only HDTV bigger than the 20" TV I have on the list so far is this one
The other thing I found is a refurbished one of this TV for $299. I looked at that one in the store today and like that it has two component Video ins.
I still need to find a friend with a membership and take a trip to Costco, their lifetime guarentee makes buying such an item there highly attractive.
You can shop ahead on the Costco web site. Not everything on the site is in the store, but it’ll get you ready.
I’m not shopping for a TV currently so I don’t have much advice. There is HD and HD-ready. HD-ready means it needs an HD signal to be pumped into it. Pure HD you only need if you’re watching broadcast TV. If you have cable or satellite, HD-ready is all you need.
The only thing a TV is good for is watching DVDs, but you can use a computer for that.
I think if I had BBC like you do I’d watch some of the programs ones in a while. As it is, all I have is four greek channels which I don’t understand and even if I did, they are still crap. I used to watch Pink Panther, but they stopped it.
Uhh, I just realised you said a movie. I thought you meant a TV programme. Sure, I have loads of favourite movies and I guess you do need a TV to watch them. But the computer could have done just as well if only my DVD drive wasn’t broken.
I would go with the Samsung. I’ve been eyeing their 40" lcd for a while now, waiting for it to be sub $2k. You can’t go wrong with a CRT, generally it’s still the best picture out there, it just isn’t a sexy flat panel, but that’s not an issue for you!
Don’t let the switch to a digital standard determine what tv you buy, there will be set top boxes for converting digital broadcasts to analog for older tvs. I don’t think many grandparents are going to run out and buy a digital tv so they can watch the Family Feud on their rabbit ears. This is one reason why the switch date keeps getting pushed back, right now it is set for February 17, 2009.
And the switch only effects over the air signals, not cable (although cable will eventually be all digital to offer more “services”). So if you are on cable now, nothing will change for you, if you only use an antennae then a digital set is something to think about. Also, a digital broadcast won’t necessarily mean hi-def. DVDs are digital, but Blu-Ray & HD-DVD are digital and hi def.
I don’t have cable, just a good a set of rabbit ears. The only true HD programming I would be watching is over the air broadcast. I don’t plan on upgrading to HDDVD or Blu-Ray any time soon. I plan to play Wii on it as well but it only changes from 480i to 480p by using component cables instead of composite.
Even though I won’t really be watching much HDTV, it’s seems silly to buy an SDTV even though it would be about $200 cheaper for a high-ish end flat screen digital CRT.
DO NOT GET 1080p or i or even 720p or i. The number stands for how long it takes the TV to process the signal. The higher the number, the longer it takes, and it’ll look a lot worse. You’ll be better off with something that’s actually good like a 420p or i.
If you want a tv right now, doesnt matter what you get, just make sure it has a high definition. DOnt listen to 1080p 1080i 720i, and all that rubbish.
JUst look a the number of pixels. Its easy. Look here is the perfect graph :
basically if it is 1280x720, you’ll get abit better than DVD picture. If its 1920x1080, it’ll be very very much better.
But carefull because i’ve seen tv’s with 1280x720 resolutions saying 1080i ready!
I mena what a load of rubbish. 1920x1080 is real hd the 720i resolution is a bit pointless in my opinion.
