Westinghouse LCD HD TV or Monitor?

[Cinnamonhuskies]

I've read thru all those threads on the TVs offered and one question remains: Are they or aren't they TVs?

 

I need a 27"-32" flat screen TV.

I have no cable and the satelite got fried by lightning, so ONLY outdoor antennas. (y'know like back in the stone age when people got free tv and radio waves transmitted thru the air?!)

 

Someone please tell me what to buy. I'm getting confused and headachy.

[RossMAN]

Westinghouse 32" LCD HDTV with HD tuner for $479.99

 

Go to AntennaWeb.org and enter your physical address.

 

All you need is an antenna to pickup OTA HDTV channels for free.

[xbb]

its the 42" that's a monitor, and doesnt include an HD tuner (which costs several hundred). the 27" and 32" are HDTV's and have a built-in tuner; your best bet is to do what rossman said and go for the 32".

[pcsoon]

I think the best buy is the 42" for a grand.:) The 32" price will soon be the norm and if you have satellite or digital cable you probably won't ever use the HD tuner. The HD tuner is for your local network OTA channels and you need an antenna . I my area that would mean ABC, NBC, CBS and one independent.

[infrared013]

I'm a bit confused on this ad, so it doesnt come with the HD tuner, so if I get HD service from my provider I would have to buy the tuner...thats fine...but if I buy the TV can it still be used with non-HD service? Will it look ok?

[bpr]

Yes it still works as a regular TV, but it doesn't look as good. People see HDTVs running normal 'airwaves' and think the picture is horrible and complain. If you watch a DVD though, it will look great. Also, my Dish looks pretty good on it also. If you get HD service, its outstanding.

[bitWrangler]

Yes it still works as a regular TV, but it doesn't look as good. People see HDTVs running normal 'airwaves' and think the picture is horrible and complain. If you watch a DVD though, it will look great. Also, my Dish looks pretty good on it also. If you get HD service, its outstanding.

Most fixed pixel displays do a terrible job at showing standard def tv. One advantage of older tv's is that their combination of non-perfect output with the non-perfect signal produced a rather decent display (after all the technology has been around since the stone ages, so they've had a lot of time to perfect one to the other). So, with a few exceptions, any new gen large fixed pixel display is probably going to be less than satisfying on a standard def signal. Note that I find it's even worse on cable/satellite because fixed pixel displays have a tendency to accentuate compression artifacts on those signals. A good quality line doubler does wonders here.

[infrared013]

would i have to buy a dedicated HD tuner or would the one that comes in the comcast digital HD box do the job?

[bommai]

would i have to buy a dedicated HD tuner or would the one that comes in the comcast digital HD box do the job?

Comcast box will be enough. Once you have a cable box or a satellite box or even a Tivo (including the HD one), you don't have to worry about the built-in tuner. however, as an OTA person, I love my TV with built-in tuner. No more expenses.

 

One more thing. When it says HD-monitor, that does not necessarily mean that it has NTSC tuner. The FCC rule is that if it has a NTSC tuner, it needs to have a NTSC tuner. So, many Westinghouse and others that say HD-monitor, don't include either tuners. So you need a cable box or satellite box for both analog and digital content. You cannot just plug your cable outlet to the TV.