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LCD TV reccomendations
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
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Offline
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We are looking to replace our aging 27" CRT with something a bit more up to date. There is no good place in our home to put a honest to goodness home theater, and we don't want it dominating our living room the way our current set does. So projectors are out, and we don't have room for a rear projection or CRT. However, I do want HDTV.
So that pretty much leaves LCD.
Trying to judge the quality of these things at Best Buy is a nightmare. The feeds to the sets are obviously not very clean, as sets that cost much more from well known brands can look horrible next to a budget set, and the staff is completely clueless.
From what I saw, there was a Westinghouse 30" for around ~$1000 that looked as good as anything, but I didn't even know they made TV's. What would I be giving up by going with it?
I would be hooking up digital cable with HDTV (comcast), a PS2 (I don't actually play games, really just a DVD player) and a VCR (you know, for kids).
What should I be looking for? Who makes a good set for the money? Do I need HDTV built-in or is HD ready if I only plan on getting content from cable?
Any helpers out there?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Off the Tobakoff
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A friend of mine did a lot of research before settling on Sharp's Aquos line. He got a 32" and I have to say it puts out a gorgeous picture—sharper and better color than the plasmas I've seen.
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"You rise," he said, "like Aurora."
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Washington state
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Sharp sets appear to work and their cable-card ready sets work with Comcast in the Seattle area. ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hlight=seattle ) Local HD channels do not require an extra fee or box if you don't get the cable-card itself. Consumer Reports tested and rated all kinds of sets around March and your library should have a copy. sam
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
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So if you get a comcast card, do you not need the box at all? Or does that only do the HD and the regular/PPV stuff still require the box?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Washington state
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PPV and Video On Demand require their box. Nothing else does. The Comcast business model suggests that their cash flow benefits from leasing boxes instead of cards. Just as their technical staff only understands Windows and pcs, they also only understand boxes.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Toronto, ON
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Don't buy Dell, they're crap! A lot of reviewers recommend the Sharp line, as noted above.
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The Lord said 'Peter, I can see your house from here.'
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2005
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"That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
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Originally Posted by Scandalous Ion Cannon
It's full of good and interesting information, just not a whole lot of info on LCD's. I understand all the downsides, but I can't figure out how anything else will work.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2005
Status:
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Originally Posted by Paco500
It's full of good and interesting information, just not a whole lot of info on LCD's. I understand all the downsides, but I can't figure out how anything else will work.
Do you want an LCD or LCD rear projection?
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"That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
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Originally Posted by Scandalous Ion Cannon
Do you want an LCD or LCD rear projection?
What I want is almost irrelevant, as I have to buy what will work. I have a space about 30" wide and 12" deep to put it, which pretty much limits me to LCD.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2005
Status:
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Originally Posted by Paco500
What I want is almost irrelevant, as I have to buy what will work. I have a space about 30" wide and 12" deep to put it, which pretty much limits me to LCD.
I have an LCD TV right now as a temp, it is horrible. Horrible contrast ratio and black level detail. It is the bottom of the line so I am not surprised.
Look for name brands with high contrast ratios.
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"That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
Status:
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Is contrast ratio the major factor? What about resolution- 16:9 vs. 15:9? What inputs should I be looking for? If I'm not planning on getting HD content over the air, does having a built in tuner matter at all?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2005
Status:
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Originally Posted by Paco500
Is contrast ratio the major factor? What about resolution- 16:9 vs. 15:9? What inputs should I be looking for? If I'm not planning on getting HD content over the air, does having a built in tuner matter at all?
Contrast and refreash times are the major factors.
Tuner doesn't matter, never heard of 15:9, get 16:9 set not 4:3.
for connections DVI or HDMI is nice but a couple component is all you should need.
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"That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Aug 2001
Status:
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"It's weird the way 'finger puppets' sounds ok as a noun..."
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: UK
Status:
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Originally Posted by Scandalous Ion Cannon
I have an LCD TV right now as a temp, it is horrible. Horrible contrast ratio and black level detail. It is the bottom of the line so I am not surprised.
Look for name brands with high contrast ratios.
What happened to your DLP from the old thread?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2005
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by OB1
What happened to your DLP from the old thread?
The POS rotted away over 10 months and I raised hell to get my money back, I am getting a Sony LCD -RP instead.
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"That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: UK
Status:
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Damn, that sucks. Post more pics when you get your new one.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2000
Location: new york, ny
Status:
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i have the aquos 32 and it is gorgeous. If i had the cash, i would have bought the 37" HD-READY.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: The bottom of Cloud City
Status:
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Originally Posted by OB1
Damn, that sucks. Post more pics when you get your new one.
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"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
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