Buying a New Television

[Slow Play Ray]

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spr did you see my graph?

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yes. i do not plan to regularly sit 4' from my tv.

[Yeti]

right i was being sarcastic earlier, obviously i agree with you

[Slow Play Ray]

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right i was being sarcastic earlier, obviously i agree with you

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oh no worries, i got it - just clarifying.

i have a question - do 1080p signals suffer at all when shown on a 720p television, short of the native difference in resolution?

[Rushmore]

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Tried a search, didn't find what I needed, so...

I don't know crap about flat panels, high def, uh, plasma, projection TV's. Do they all have the cable ready and the remote controls now?

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Most TVs have tuners and are thus cable ready. If you want to receive high-definitiion ("HD") (and you should, if you're buying a big TV), you'll need something extra. Cable and satellite companies require an external box in order to receive HD signals. If you want to receive free HD, you'll need to buy an antenna. But if you're in a large metropolitan area, you might be able to get by with a small indoor antenna. Go to http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx to find out what kind of antenna you might need.

All TVs come with remotes, so not sure what you're asking there. Universal remotes? Some TVs come with them, some don't.

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Sorry, man. I was joking about that. I know they are all cable ready and have a remote.

I just wanted to sound like a crazy old cooter who just spent twenty years in the woods.

It was an ineffective device, I fear.

Speaking of devices, I need more suggestions.

Unless, of course, you all just want to hand the thread off to that Jerry Garcia SOB who stole my thread.

<gggggrrrrrrr>

Kidding. I have heard a handful of useful things so far.

I want the thinnest, biggest, clearest-picture television available for under $2K. It doesn't need to be "pimp," it just needs to be a decent value.

[Slow Play Ray]

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Unless, of course, you all just want to hand the thread off to that Jerry Garcia SOB who stole my thread.

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i'm just piggybacking in the name of saving the environment. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[private joker]

Rushmore,

I went through this whole thing 8 months ago. I read the EDF thread and realized I don't know anything about tech stuff. So I went with the consensus, sacked up, and got the 42" Panasonic plasma.

Plasma really is the way to go, and most TVs over 40" are plasma. It looks awesome. My Panasonic kicks ass, but you can find really good Samsungs and Pioneers also. (And Sony, but they are too expensive). Just go with the overwhelming popular choice, the Panasonic 42. I spent $1500 on it or so, but I think now at Costco you can get the 50" for $1600 and the 42" for like 1250. So if you want big, get the 50".

Anything smaller than 42" will look small to you once you start watching TV in widescreen hi-def.

[Analyst]

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Speaking of devices, I need more suggestions.

Unless, of course, you all just want to hand the thread off to that Jerry Garcia SOB who stole my thread.

<gggggrrrrrrr>

Kidding. I have heard a handful of useful things so far.

I want the thinnest, biggest, clearest-picture television available for under $2K. It doesn't need to be "pimp," it just needs to be a decent value.

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As has been said, you don't need a 1080 set unless you are getting a very large screen and/or are sitting very close.

If you have a $2k budget, I'd take a serious look at the Pioneer 4280. OneCall has it for $2300; others may be cheaper (but OneCall is exceptionally reliable). Stretch the extra couple of hundred dollars and sacrifice some size - the new generation ("Kuro") from Pioneer simply is in a different league from any other consumer display. Other companies make some very good displays - especially Sharp and Sony (LCDs), and Panasonic (plasmas) - but once you've seen a Pioneer, there's no going back.

[1C5]

I just got a 60" Pioneer plasma 6070, for $3000 at Sam's club.

Sweet!!!!!!!!

not sure if this link will work

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...mp;item=376117

[1C5]

oops, just read your last post, as this TV is most definitely pimp and it costs 3k.

[MrWookie]

One thing to definitely make sure of is that you have 2 HDMI inputs. That's pretty common, but when it comes down to it, having enough ports is probably more important than 1080p. You're going to have 1 HD source from either cable or satellite, and that's best using HDMI. Then, you might one day have a HDDVD/Blu-Ray player, a PS3, a Xbox360, or who knows what else, and they'll probably want a HDMI cable, too. My TV has 2 component inputs as well, and that's pretty nice to have, too. I have my Wii hooked up to one and my DVD player to the other. It's easy to think only about picture quality, but being able to plug in everything is something to check.