| Author |
Message |
Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Monday, January 18, 2010 - 11:23 pm 
So, looks like the WhoHouse is making the plunge. Our old 27-inch, 20-year-old TV is on its last legs. The picture is blinking on/off to the extent I'm getting a nervous twitch. In fact, when I log on to the computer now I wait for the monitor to start blinking, LOL.
Anyway, I'm open to recommendations from the fine folk at TVCH. Any brands to look for, any brands to stay away from? I'm learning a bit about 1080P, HDMI cables and stuff like that. So any input is welcome!
I know our present TV is a Sony, and my research online says the blinking thing is a common problem with Sony. Though I assume that is with the older TVs, not the new HDTV models. But truth be told, this blinking thing has me pretty turned off of Sony, unless I can hear any overwhelming arguments to sway my opinion here.
Sis has a Samsung. And our two older 16-inch TVs in the kitchen and in WhosMom's room are Samsung, and they have performed quite well over the years.
I'm assuming if we're gonna make an investment of this nature, that an off-brand (aka cheaper) may not be worth the savings of a couple of hundred dollars. Any input on that thought is welcome too.
Thanks in advance for your input!!
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Monday, January 18, 2010 - 11:36 pm
Whoami, I just bought a 32" Vizio and I am pleased with the picture.
I haven't called to have HD added to my account yet because the picture is so much better on this TV. lol
Walmart had several TV's advertised and when I went in and asked for the one I wanted, she told me that they only had one TV in stock. Talk about bait and switch!
Went to Costco and found this Vizio. I really, really like it.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 18, 2010 - 11:54 pm
I don't have one yet, but my brother seems to be pleased with his Samsungs.. and I thought they looked great.
A friend says her son just got a Vizio 42" and really loves that.
And I look forward to reading other inputs. I can't afford to replace my living room Sony which isn't blinking at all, but in the bedroom I have a reallly old and really small TV my parents used when they worked out on their exercise bike and they had it awhile. They've both been gone since 1994 in fact the very night of the O J Simpson slow speed chase is about when I inherited this little TV.. so I may soon justify a smaller HD for the bedroom. I'm on Time-Warner and both my DVRs are digital and HD ready already.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 1:58 am
To me, the general rule is that you get a 1080p. Beyond that, it's up to you. I bought mine on newegg.com--you really can't beat the price, and the extended warranty prices are unbeatable. Mine is Toshiba, but others love Samsung, Sony, and Sharp. You can now get a 46" Toshiba for only $800 on newegg, which seems kinda unbeatable to me.
Get at least a few HDMI inputs.
I have an HD DVR and it's really invaluable. You can't imagine the difference between standard and high def when you watch TV and now there are tons of channels now available (at least on TW SoCal) in HD that aren't available in regular def.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 5:22 am
We just bought a 47" Panasonic Plasma. The technology has improved so you don't have the burn out problems and it they are so much cheaper than the LCD tv's. Picture wise in a side by side comparision we thought the picture was better too.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 5:43 am
Mine is a Panasonic and it has a beautiful picture. One thing I would take into consideration is that LCD seems to have a bit longer lifespan than the plasmas from what I've read. The only issue with plasmas is that if you tend to pause something and leave it there forever, the picture can be "burned" into the screen like it can on your computer. I have heard this but have no proof of its truth, lol.
Either TV has a lifespan of probably 8 years, which is what made me lean towards a cheaper TV. As long as the picture in the store is good, I'd go with a cheaper brand.
Who, you will LOVE watching the olympics on an LCD or plasma! Just go get one now!!!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 8:04 am
My previous and current TVs both were / are Sony. No complaints. Had a Sony Trinitron since 2000. Then a year plus ago upgraded to Sony Bravia 40" LCD HD TV with new TiVo HD and new Sony DVD player. (No cable or satellite.) No problems or complaints. Love it all.
Abt Electronics is a good site to look for info about products and read reviews. As Abt and I are in the Chicago area, I bought my TV, etc. from there. They ship nation (world?) wide.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 8:39 am
Huk'd, they have fixed alot of the burn out problems on the newer models.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 11:03 am
I got a great 32 or 36 inch Westinghouse at Bestbuy for $600 a year or so ago and love it. The pictures are so much sharper with the newer tvs you don't even need HD.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 1:06 pm
We have a Sony Bravia lcd hd tv. We've had it for 2 yrs. and never had any problems with it. The model no. is KDL46V3000. (I think the 46 means it is a 46"). It got really good reviews from consumers and experts. It is a really gorgeous tv!
(It was expensive at the time, but we had a $1200 credit towards a new one from Circuit City because of an older lemon tv that was actually a sony...one of those huge box tvs, a sony trinitron or wega or maybe they were one in the same. CC gave us full credit even though it was a couple or few yrs. old.)
So Who, there's a positive and a negative for Sony.
I always do a lot of research before buying something like that. Consumerreports.org has good info. To get the good stuff, you need to join, but, you can join for just 1 mo. ... it is worth the $6 (aprox). Just don't forget to cancel if you want to cancel. They will automatically charge your credit card if you forget.
cnet.com has expert reviews.
bustbuy.com and amazon.com have consumer reviews. I'm sure there are others as well.
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 1:18 pm
Go with your gut on the manufacturer. Had a SONY TV for 26 years. It still worked, but the box used for the digital switch was annoying. Bought a Sony Bravia last November.... love it. Note: I am only using antennae signals and the picture is great! When I went looking, I thought the picture on the SONY was more realistic than any others. Plus, the fact that my old TV still worked after 26 years kept me with SONY.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 1:25 pm
As I said above, I don't have cable or satellite. So I am watching TV on my Sony with just antenna reception. Great picture.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 5:10 pm
Who I wasn't sure what size you were looking, so punched in 32". Samsung came up as the best on CNET reviews. If you notice on the left side, you can click for different sizes to find their "best" reviews.
We have a 50" Toshiba DLP. Not sure if DLP's are around any more but it's awesome. We have a 27" Vizio LCD in our bedroom [used to be in our living room in old house as we also had a huge family room the big TV was in.] Picture is outstanding. As it is on my brother's 32" Vizio. Vizio is definitely not a brand to be afraid of.
One thing we don't take advantage of, is - oh I'm so not techy so don't know the actual name - but the computer monitor hook up thingy on our TVs. Meaning you can use it as a computer monitor if you so desire. My brother did all the time when my dad was alive. So that is something to look for if it's something you will use, like if you wanted to show WhoMom some pics or soemthing..
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 5:14 pm
Oh, and over the air pics are great on both TV's. Antenna reception is alot better. Not that we have to worry about that for the most part as we have DirecTV. [Not sure about the burning the picture in the screen if you pause as DirecTV's DVR's have screen savers.]
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 10:30 pm
Kmart has a decent deal: Sylvania 32" HDTV for $299.99.
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Landileigh
Member
07-29-2002
| Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 1:03 am
Your Sony TV that is just blinking after 20 years, I wouldn't say that was a bad thing. it is 20 years old! if you like Sony, buy Sony. But remember they are almost double the price of any other. We bought an Insignia from Best Buy during the Thanksgiving sales, and it is AWESOME! never knew Survivor could look so cool!
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 11:38 pm
New TV is on its way and should be installed tomorrow afternoon. I'm soooo excited!!
I posted a short video clip on Facebook on what our current (and now soon to be former) TV is doing. How long do you think you could put up with the blinking?
Video of Old TV
Hopefully this link will work. I think I set the privacy so anyone could see it.
Maybe I should take another clip of the new TV and do a before/after vid. LOL. I won't get HD right away, since we have to upgrade our DVR. That will be at no extra cost (and probably overdue anyway since the current DVR is several years old). But we need to hurry up and watch the programming we don't want to lose on it, and I need to copy over our "Favorites" list so I can go searching for all our favored shows again. But the standard TV will still be eons better than what we have now!
Oh, and our new TV is a Samsung - 46" Class / 1080p / 240Hz / LCD HDTV. I think the difference for us will be the same as when I went from a 486 computer to a Pentium III.
Oh, and BTW, thank you everyone for your input! IT was very helpful!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 2:10 am
Anyone who is on facebook.. not me, but I'll take your word for it, Who.. that it is something you wouldn't want to put up with.
The new one sounds wonderful!
Just a suggestion, but you could get a second DVR (HD) and overlap until you have watched your saved shows.. put the new DVR on the HD tv and start seeing and recording HD shows. Then when you are ready, turn in the old DVR and cancel that on your account (unless you find out that two DVRs can be quite useful, as I have here.)
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 4:48 am
Yay Who! I know that you and your Mom will absolutely LOVE watching the olympics on your new TV! But be prepared to see a lot of wrinkles on people that you've never seen before, lol!
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Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 7:21 am
and lots of freckles! That was the strangest thing when we first got HD.
Who, wait til you see SUrvivor on it!! That show and football sometimes look like 3d
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 7:53 am
One of the first programs I saw on my new bigger LCD screen HD TV was a nature program about the everglades. Beautiful!! You're gonna love it!!
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Beachcomber
Member
08-26-2003
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 8:57 am
Who, I have that TV and you are going to love it!!! The football games are absolutely incredible, you can see the grass fly up when the backs run by.
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 12:45 pm
They're scheduled to be here between 1 and 2. Its 12:45 now.....
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Babyruth
Member
07-19-2001
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 1:27 pm
WooHoo Who! I think that's the same TV we have.
Be sure to find the HD version of your favorite channels. For instance, NBC is channel 4 here, but on our local Comcast the HD version is channel 232.
Not all channels have an HD version, but many do. Also not all programs are recorded in HD, but many are, including Survivor, NFL football, etc.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Friday, January 22, 2010 - 1:29 pm
Oh now we've lost Who completely...she's transfixed to that TV watching Judge Judy or something.
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