Shopping for a TV

[BradC]

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I asked the department sales guy why none of their tv's did 1080p and he said "Walmart cannot offer a 1080p set at the price point our customers can afford at this time"

I laughed and left.

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The salesman spoke the truth.

As far as HDTV goes, 1080p is bleeding edge (i.e. you want 1080p, be prepared to pay out the wazoo)

The typical Wal-mart shopper is not looking for high end electronics.

We picked up a 42" Samsung RP DLP last month at Costco. It's great. Fantastic picture, no risk of burn in, displays 480p/720p/1080i.

 

[BGK]

A 36" tube weighs about 200lbs; they are almost totally off the market. I bought a 27" flat tube Insignia from Best Buy; outstanding picture with a lousy remote but a steal if you find it on sale. 1080i capable and net cost of only $250!

 

[Carbonics]

more and more 1080 content will be coming, why settle for less? might as well go all out that way you can have the best viewing experience later on....

 

[Laminar Lou]

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I laughed cause he basically called walmart customers poor.

this guy actually knew what he was talking about, backlights, contrast ratios, color reproduction etc.

he told me that costco had the best deal on a 1080p set and if he was going to buy one it would be there...think he said it was a sharp.

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Wow, I must be shopping in the wrong Walmart. I am impressed.

 

[benjamming]

CR (if you don't have access and care) recommends Sony as the top performer. Panasonic, RCA, & JVC do very well. Samsung & Philips are inconsistent. Toshiba has historically performed well until about 2005.

According to their reliability, I would stay away from Philips, Samsung, and RCA.

Are you looking for 4:3 or 16:9 ratio? I assume standard definition (nothing fancy reference)? SD will usually have 1 component & 1 rear S-video input.

From CR's list, I would look at a Sony FD Trinitron Wega KD-32FS170 that's listed as $650 if all they say is true (price, availability, etc.).

 

[Kestas]

I get Consumer Reports, but ironically I lost the March issue.

I heard LCDs will see a dramatic drop in price within 3-6 months. I believe it's because of a change in technology. Can anybody confirm or deny this info?

 

[BGK]

I've been told that LCD's will be changing (I believe the backlighting technology will be improving) but only HDMI 1.3 is for sure. Check HDGuru.com for details.

 

[doitmyself]

This year seems to be a bad year to upgrade home electronics. I considered upgrading my 9 year old home theater system and visited a few home theater forums. They contend that the dust will settle by the end of this year regarding the on-going HD format wars (Blue Ray vs. HD CD,etc.), HDMI 1.3 will be more available, etc..

Regarding an old style tube TV, Consumer Report might actually have good advice in this case (no one else cares about them anymore). Tube TV's are close to becoming obsolete and the flat screens will have to come down in price soon, I hope. My vote is to buy a cheap one with the idea you will have to replace it within 5 years.

 

[97tbird]

I do hope LCD's come down in price...I don't care much about the tv tuning capabilities...as long as I can watch dvd's on them, that's fine...
right now, my pioneer dvd player and Toshiba flat tube 20" provide very entertainment for their price, but I will want an LCD tv asa I can afford it...which will be in 1-2 yrs.