Best LCD TV advice

[splacid]

I recently sold my ten year old TV and would like to get a flat panel LCD TV. From what I hear, the manufacturers who led the CRT TV market are behind in the LCD market, namely Sony. I also am hearing LCD is better than plasma or projection.

My old TV was a Sony and I never had any problems with it, however I'm open to other brands. I'm looking for advice on LCD TVs--the best brand, what to look for, the best place to buy. Ideally I'd like a 25 to 30-inch model, preferably under $1,500. Thoughts?

 

[maestro55]

I recently sold my ten year old TV and would like to get a flat panel LCD TV. From what I hear, the manufacturers who led the CRT TV market are behind in the LCD market, namely Sony. I also am hearing LCD is better than plasma or projection.

My old TV was a Sony and I never had any problems with it, however I'm open to other brands. I'm looking for advice on LCD TVs--the best brand, what to look for, the best place to buy. Ideally I'd like a 25 to 30-inch model, preferably under $1,500. Thoughts?

I don't know much about these TVs, but there are some good deals on www.newegg.com. You can look at this SVA brand 30-inch for $800, I have never heard of the brand, so maybe someone can shed some light on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824165005

Here is a 30-inch viewsonic that is right in your pricerange.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889107002

These say HDTV-Ready, assuming they lack the tuner then. But maybe worth looking at anyhow.

 

[Kobushi]

when I was looking for a new TV (most of last year and early this year) I compared all of the technologies. Rear projection, LCD, DLP, LCOS, plasma to name a few. I like LCD but the picture didn't seem as crisp when there was a lot of movement (I suppose video games would suffer here). DLP was inexpensive compared to the others and seemed to have a wider view angle (I ended up with this). However, after purchasing it I noticed I am one of the few people that can see the "rainbow effect". I don't really notice it now. LCOS would have gotten rid of the effect but was about a grand more (I was looking for a TV 50"+). Plasma is sweet but way too expensive (it's come down quite a bit since I bought) and loses its charge after so many years.

I would say LCD is fine place in the middle for good picture quality and reasonably affordable, and the Sony's I looked at had a fine picture. JVC is coming back up in the market and Samsung seems to have straighened itself if you're looking for brands that may be a bit cheaper.

 

[~Shard~]

LCDs are definitely good choices for TVs, and now that their costs are coming down, and their sizes increasing, it makes them an even more attractive choice.

 

[maya]

LCDs are definitely good choices for TVs, and now that their costs are coming down, and their sizes increasing, it makes them an even more attractive choice.

LCD TV are good however if you want a wide-angle and brighter screen image then plasma is the way to go. Plasma is also very expensive to fix. LCD does not have a wide viewing area however you can buy any LCD HDTV under 40 inches for cheap. If you go beyond 40 inches plan on spending more as the technology has not caught up to plasma as far as size, viewing angle and colour saturation goes.

You can find any 3rd part company that have similar if not the same feature set for pretty much the same price these days. If I were you and you do not require the LCD HDTV right away I would wait till Feb - March 2006 when the price will really drop.

 

[~Shard~]

LCD TV are good however if you want a wide-angle and brighter screen image then plasma is the way to go. Plasma is also very expensive to fix. LCD does not have a wide viewing area however you can buy any LCD HDTV under 40 inches for cheap. If you go beyond 40 inches plan on spending more as the technology has not caught up to plasma as far as size, viewing angle and colour saturation goes.

Good points. That being said though, when I watch my TV I'm sitting in front of it, so I could care less about the viewing angle...

If I were you and you do not require the LCD HDTV right away I would wait till Feb - March 2006 when the price will really drop.

Yep, completely agree - in a few months the LCDs will be bigger and cheaper.

 

[mcarnes]

Yep, completely agree - in a few months the LCDs will be bigger and cheaper.

What happens in a few months?

 

[~Shard~]

What happens in a few months?

An improvement to the technology, specifically the manufacturing, was recently developed, which allowed LCD manufacturers to utilize more of the glass they use for the panels, resulting in greater efficiencies - as a result, once these new processes become fully implemented, the result will be lower costs for LCDs as well as larger sizes.