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>>> Official Black Friday TV / HDTV Discussion Thread <<<

Brad

By Brad
in 2007

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jfire

jfire

Posted
Posted

maybe the Westinghouse 42'' or 47'' for under $800?

Don't get a westinghouse lcd I work part time at a retailer, and we get those back all the time for warranty issues. The screens they use are very cheap. Look at one next to another tv and you can totally tell the difference. And make sure to only buy 1080p, you will be dissapointed if you dont. All of the networks will be broadcasting in that format within the next year. Pay a little more and get it.

 

jfire

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schwoozer

schwoozer

Posted
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And make sure to only buy 1080p, you will be dissapointed if you dont. All of the networks will be broadcasting in that format within the next year. Pay a little more and get it.

This is exactly the "advice" I would expect from someone who works part time at a retailer. :rolleyes:

 

Even if you did somehow know for a fact (and you don't) that everyone looking for a new set will be disappointed if they don't get 1080p, your statement about the networks could not be more false.

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jfire

jfire

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This is exactly the "advice" I would expect from someone who works part time at a retailer. :rolleyes:

 

Even if you did somehow know for a fact (and you don't) that everyone looking for a new set will be disappointed if they don't get 1080p, your statement about the networks could not be more false.

Look at a 720p and a 1080p next to one another getting a signal from a hd-dvd or blue ray disc, or a gaming system and then tell me what you think. Also the golden standard is now 1080p, anything else and down the road you will be dissapointed you never coughed up the extra dough for the 1080p.

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lew

lew

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Dont get a television other than a digital one. The FCC 's date to stop sending analog signals is January 2008. Your television will be no good without a either a satalite box, or a cable box.

 

jfire

 

That is incorrect. It is February 17, 2009 that OVER THE AIR analog broadcast will cease. If you have satellite, cable, or some other TV plan that does not use rabbit ears to get a signal, your TV WILL continue to operate just fine. But at some date in 2012 these operators will have to switch to digital on their networks, THEN NO analog TV's will work without a converter box.

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Mikey_NoNeck

Mikey_NoNeck

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Look at a 720p and a 1080p next to one another getting a signal from a hd-dvd or blue ray disc, or a gaming system and then tell me what you think. Also the golden standard is now 1080p, anything else and down the road you will be dissapointed you never coughed up the extra dough for the 1080p.

Under 42" I don't think many people will notice the difference between a 720p/1080i set and an 1080p set.

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Guest amberntony

Guest amberntony

Posted
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Hi,

I was wondering if you tv experts would tell me what you think about this tv?

We were at Sears the other day and saw it was on sale.It was just lovely :)

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QDBYII/interactiveda663-20

 

Last year the panasonics were rated really well but I wasn't sure about this one.Thank you SO much,

Jenn

How much was it at sears??? It is a nice set!

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angelic680

angelic680

Posted
Posted

The Sears Ad lists a Toshiba 42" (42HD167) for $1249. This is a 1080p and we just purchased it from Circuit City for $1299. I don't know if either of these prices are good, but they are the best I have seen in a while.

 

Sorry... I thought that you were talking about the Sharp Aquos 46" LCD HDTV - $999.99 in the sears blackfriday ad... ;)

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bitWrangler

bitWrangler

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Look at a 720p and a 1080p next to one another getting a signal from a hd-dvd or blue ray disc, or a gaming system and then tell me what you think. Also the golden standard is now 1080p, anything else and down the road you will be dissapointed you never coughed up the extra dough for the 1080p.

This is somewhat misleading. The biggest difference in quality tends to be the compression ratio of whatever source you're watching, not necessarily whether it is 720p/1080i/1080p. The beauty of BluRay is that it has enough space to allow the manufacturer to be generous with the level of compression (in this case meaning that they don't have to compress as much). This leads to a significantly better picture that most people would be hard pressed to determine the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 42" set or smaller.

 

I also wouldn't expect too many non media based sources (i.e. satellite/cable/OTA) to switch to 1080p any time soon. Right now those providers are fighting for QUANTITY, not quality. You can fit twice as many channels (all other things being more or less equal) at 1080i than you can at 1080p. Also, consider that the direct upstream providers can downscale the signal as well (e.g. even if ESPN broadcasts the SuperBowl in 1080p, doesn't mean that your cable company will send it to you in 1080p).

 

If the difference between comparable 1080i/720p and 1080p is relatively small, then by all means go for the 1080p (esp if you already have a PS3). But I have a feeling that, this year at least, that manufacturers are making most of their profits from the 1080p sets "while bringing them in the stores" with the 1080i/720p sets, keeping the price differential sufficiently high enough to make the cheaper sets a much better deal.

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jfire

jfire

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I guess its just my thought, that if I am gonna be forking aout $1000 dollars for a tv, why not pay 200 or 300 more to make sure I got the best out there. And this thing about the competing formats blue ray and hddvd, what the hell, where back to the days of vhs and beta. The induustry needs to adopt a standard and go with it. Just my thoughts.....
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bitWrangler

bitWrangler

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I guess its just my thought, that if I am gonna be forking aout $1000 dollars for a tv, why not pay 200 or 300 more to make sure I got the best out there. And this thing about the competing formats blue ray and hddvd, what the hell, where back to the days of vhs and beta. The induustry needs to adopt a standard and go with it. Just my thoughts.....

$200/$300 more? Heck, this is the Black Fridays forums. People will literally throw away 16 hours of their lives standing in line in the freezing cold all night long just to save that much money ;)

 

angelic680 - please define "best LCD tv's". Are you literally wondering which stores carry the tv's that are rated as amongst the best? Or are you looking for the stores with the best deals?

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angelic680

angelic680

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$200/$300 more? Heck, this is the Black Fridays forums. People will literally throw away 16 hours of their lives standing in line in the freezing cold all night long just to save that much money ;)

 

angelic680 - please define "best LCD tv's". Are you literally wondering which stores carry the tv's that are rated as amongst the best? Or are you looking for the stores with the best deals?

 

 

bitWrangler ~ I'm looking for the stores that are going to have the best deals on TV's (LCD) for BLACKFRIDAY! :)

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Lawdog

Lawdog

Posted
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I recognize the debate over 720p versus 1080p, but I think I might grab the Panasonic TH-50PX75U at Sears F&F night, before BF. Although this 50 in. plasma is only 720p, many reviews (CR being one) have it second only to its 1080p sibling, which is an additional $1000, give or take.

 

We gave it a good HD-DVD feed comparison to several other sets, including the 1080p version and thought its picture was excellent. It should be in the vicinity of $1250-$1280 at the Sears sale this weekend. Unless Best Buy has something better, that's where we are leaning right now. If the 1080p version were only $200 more, rather than a $1000, it would be a tougher choice.

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bitWrangler

bitWrangler

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bitWrangler ~ I'm looking for the stores that are going to have the best deals on TV's (LCD) for BLACKFRIDAY! :)

Well, I guess you're just going to have to wait like the rest of us :)

 

But if last year as an example (and realizing that my memory sucks), I seem to recall that amazingly enough, Home Depot had decent deals (and even better you were able to purchase the tv's before BF). I remember BB not having anything worth waiting in line for. I also remember Fry's being a bit of a letdown (at least with regards to TV's).

 

That being said, it can all change this year (sorry, I'm not privvy to any inside info).

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schwoozer

schwoozer

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Look at a 720p and a 1080p next to one another getting a signal from a hd-dvd or blue ray disc, or a gaming system and then tell me what you think.

Well, if I'm doing this comparison in a store (which is where I think most if not all comparisons would take place), "what I think" is that the 1080p set was calibrated WAY better to make the difference (which I'm not denying exists) even more obvious....but that's just the conspiracy theorist in me :) For example, as I posted earlier in the thread, contrast can bring out detail too, so if the 720p set has its contrast settings all out of whack, it would be even easier to say, "Wow, look at the amount of extra detail I'm getting from 1080p." Well, SOME is due to the 1080p, but some is due to the intentionally poor calibration of the cheaper set. And stores pull these sorts of stunts all the time because their only objective is to sell expensive stuff.

 

What bothers me (possibly more than warranted) is a) (always dangerous) blanket statements like "you will be disappointed" and B) the flat out false information about networks broadcasting 1080p. I just hate to see the spread of misinformation, and that is exactly what the latter is, pure and simple.

 

Anyway, I think people in general need to be aware of a few things about 1080p when purchasing HDTVs.

 

-1080p really only matters if sitting sufficiently close to the screen. Use this link to help you determine if 1080p would even help you.

-HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, XBOX 360, and PS3 are the ONLY 1080p sources right now. If you don't have one of those four, 1080p will not help you until you do (or something else comes along).

-The price difference for 1080p is often more than just a couple hundred bucks for sets of comparable quality. For example, I'm in the market for a 50" plasma right now. I would have to approximately double my budget (from about $1K to about $2K) to get a 1080p set. This is more than $200-300. And the sizes where the difference in prices might be that small are the sizes that do not benefit from 1080p that much anyway.

-Resolution is NOT the most important aspect of picture quality. Don't believe me? Then refer to ISF (Image Science Foundation), who provide the true "golden standard" for picture quality. To them it's the FOURTH most important thing (contrast, color saturation, and color accuracy are all ahead).

 

If you would like more info about 1080p, this article at Cnet might be helpful, even if it is a bit outdated.

 

As for me, I'd rather buy a very affordable 720p set now, and when 1080p comes down to about the same level (which probably will not be terribly long), buy one of those too. This would cost me about the same as a 1080p would cost me today. But I get to keep half of that money in my pocket for a while, plus I end up with TWO sets.

 

Whew, that was longer than I intended ;)

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schwoozer

schwoozer

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bitWrangler ~ I'm looking for the stores that are going to have the best deals on TV's (LCD) for BLACKFRIDAY! :)

Well, if you're looking for the best deal, be careful not to limit yourself to just BF. In fact, Sears Friends and Family Sale is, according to Sears itself, going to be better than BF for them (this is what a Sears associate told me, and the evidence is there).

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angelic680

angelic680

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Well, if you're looking for the best deal, be careful not to limit yourself to just BF. In fact, Sears Friends and Family Sale is, according to Sears itself, going to be better than BF for them (this is what a Sears associate told me, and the evidence is there).

evidence....show me the evidence....LoL

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Lawdog

Lawdog

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The price difference for 1080p is often more than just a couple hundred bucks for sets of comparable quality. For example, I'm in the market for a 50" plasma right now. I would have to approximately double my budget (from about $1K to about $2K) to get a 1080p set. This is more than $200-300. And the sizes where the difference in prices might be that small are the sizes that do not benefit from 1080p that much anyway.

 

As for me, I'd rather buy a very affordable 720p set now, and when 1080p comes down to about the same level (which probably will not be terribly long), buy one of those too. This would cost me about the same as a 1080p would cost me today. But I get to keep half of that money in my pocket for a while, plus I end up with TWO sets.

 

Whew, that was longer than I intended ;)

:yup: It may have been a little longer than you intended, but it's appreciated and good info. Like I said above in post #139, the picture quality on the Panasonic I looked at was excellent. At under $1300, plus another $98 for my new HD-DVD player, I am set with a great screen and it doesn't blow up the budget.

 

Thanks for the good info.

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bitWrangler

bitWrangler

Posted
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What is the difference between plasma and LCD, and which is better?

There is a massive difference in the actual tv construction, but generally very little difference as a whole in performance. Now you'll see all sorts of different specs, numbers showing plasma as having better contrast or brightness, etc. I would recommend that you don't get caught up in the numbers and let your eyes decide, as measured performance rarely lives up to it's billing in real world comparisons.

 

You should pick a price and/or size point, then go out and shop based on that. Look at both plasmas and LCD's. So as an example, set your budget, say $1000, then go out and look at all the tv's in that range within the given size range that you're interested in, say 37-46".

 

One word of caution, when it comes to brightness, don't be afraid to ask the dealer (or do it yourself) to adjust the brightness up or down. Generally the brightness levels are jacked up in the stores to make the tv's look better (and they can be set up or down depending on which tv's the dealer wants to make look better). As a matter of fact, many flat screen tv's even come with a "dealer showroom" preset just for this purpose. You would never run the tv at these brightness levels at home.

 

Don't forget to consider items such as:

 

- number of HDMI inputs. You may have only 1 now (or even none). But when you get that PS3 and the hidef cable/satellite box, then suddenly you'll need at least two. Want to add your PC (assuming it has HDMI), theirs three.

 

- if you still watch standard def content, BE SURE to check out a standard def signal on the tv. Different tv's handle standard def content differently, and there IS a difference (even among the same tv's in a product line).

 

- if you have an older armoire that you are considering putting the tv into, today's tv's have their speakers either on the sides or on the bottom. Those with the speakers on the sides may not fit horizontally into older armoires.

 

- plasmas tend to be heavier and more fragile than their LCD counterparts. If you are inclined to move the tv around (e.g. you are an apartment dweller and you move ever year), you might want to consider an LCD.

 

- Don't purchase the dealers over inflated HDMI cables. Last year it seemed like the cheapest cables most dealers were selling were north of $75. If a cable follows the HDMI spec, then even a $12 cable from Big Lots (they have them) will do just as good as a $140 Monster Cable at any length < 12 feet.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of other things people can chime in on, and I have to go home, so I'll leave it at that :)

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Dragon13

Dragon13

Posted
Posted
Depends on the camping out. I get up at 4AM, go to Wal-Mart by 5PM and just an hour wait, whihc a long line is after me. And yes, I get those deals. I learned long ago how to shop. if have hubby with me, he gets the cart and goes to the bif thign we want. me I dart in and out amog the crowds and get the small deals we want. We done and out by no later than 7AM if not earlier.
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Dragon13

Dragon13

Posted
Posted
Another thing, on buying an HDTV--get one that is a good name brand. Buying a cheap product mostly doesn't last long. We got a cheap DVD player for our son couple years ago and it last year tops. Our higher priced nam brand DVd player was gotten 5 years ago and is still going strong. It even lets us know if the DVD we rented is drty and refuses to play it. And yes, we got it on sale--not on BF though. Do your homework ahead of time to know what is really good to buy, then that deal really is a deal.
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2bauer4

2bauer4

Posted
Posted

Here's a question for the group. Right now I have a projection a 52 inch HD monitor that is 1080i capable which I bought on BF in 2004. It has no HDMI connection, just component. Is there a DVD where upconversion would work, or do you have to have a HDMI connector?

 

Also, should I spring $169 for a HD receiver for my monitor?

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