The same questions I suppose you get here very often.

[kRocket]

I have around $800+ for at TV and an articulated wall mount. Could someone elucidate once more on distance from the picture. I have read here that 720/1080 argument can be settled easily with the ratio of distance from the set to picture size being the discriminating factor. It seemed like 30-40 inch screen size and 6-8 feet distance was involved somehow. Is that still the same now that new models with new gadgets have hit the market?

I am on the verge of buying a new set for my wall in the bedroom. It will be used to watch programming over satellite, movies (regular CD, for the time being), and possibly as a monitor occasionally. I am not a videophile and I am much more dollar crunched than interested in getting the finest set out there. I am in a wheelchair and will usually watch from there , but occasionally from bed therefore an articulated wall mount seems a good bet. I think I would

Looking into outlets such as Newegg and Abe's of Maine LCD TV's from Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba seem to fall into my category neatly although there a brands that are much cheaper. I would be happy to settle for 90% of of criticals on a 37 inch vs. 100% on 32 inch. Are there brands out there that are worth investigating just because they are very inexpensive compared to major brands (Olevia, AOC, etc.). OH, and what about Refurbished sets, any caveats there?

So, there is my dilemma. Please don't speak in abbreviations and acronyms of things I don't understand the long version of. I just like to watch TV, LOL.

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[krotchy]

First off a wall mount can be gotten from monoprice.com for a good price. Also when you say 800+ does that mean roughly 800 or like 800-1200... etc?

Second, if you want to use it as a PC monitor, 1080p is a must, if not, 720p is good for most normal viewing, though 1080p is still nice depending on distance.

I actually had this exact dilemma looking for a bedroom TV a couple weeks ago, I ended up with the Samsung 40A550 from Circuit City for 1099, which is the best B&M price I have seen on that TV. All their other prices were garbage though and I still hate circuit city, but thats another story.

Low price option: 32A450 from Samsung - Nice 720p TV, good picture decent features.
Mid price choice: Panasonic 37LZ85U - Nice 1080p 37in TV, good features, nice clarity, decently priced. I like the Panny LCD's, good value from a good brand, although they are mostly known for Plasmas.
Higher price choice: Samsung 40A550 - Very nice 1080p TV, great PQ, tons of adjustments, what I ended up with when I was shopping with similar goals.

I don't recommend the Samsung 32/37A550 since they are slightly crippled over the 40" one and the cost savings arent as much. The Toshiba RV530 TV's are a good deal at their price range as well and also worth a serious consideration. Sharp also just released a budget series of 1080p TV's but I think the smallest is 42" and their prices tend to be higher than Samsung and I find their TV's worse. Sony makes good TV's but you pay for it, and seeing as they use the same panels as Samsung, I don't see the appeal.

 

[kRocket]

By 800+, I meant circa 800 for the TV +the wall mount. and that is really tops. I live on disability income and just had a small windfall that allowed me to consider a new TV. Some of the models mentioned above are apparently no longer offered.

I looked in Refurb Depot and Newegg and the 'recertified' are slightly older models, maybe late 2007 or early 2008, but substantially cheaper than current models. I am uncertain of these 'bargains', what do you guys think.

 

[mshan]

If you don't need an integrated hdtv tuner, Oleivia 337 is nice.

Samsung LCDs are probably going to be quite good.

http://hdguru.com/?p=107

http://www.monoprice.com/produ...id=2852&seq=1&format=2

I think about a wave of lcd price cuts coming, so you might want to wait to see what happens after the first couple weeks of September.

 

[kRocket]

Thank you mshan. The article was very enlightening and the source also had an article supporting your claim that we will see a major price reduction after the Labor Day weekend. I will have to stick to the name brands and I still have the max dollars I indicated so that part of the decision has been made for me. Only now I need to reckon which one of the brands I would prefer. Unfortunately, I live in a small town and the only source of TV's is Wal-mart so I will need to order via the internet. I can't get to a lot of first-class tv's to A/B them so I am counting on you guy's advice to help me through this. And fortunately, once again you have come through. For that I thank you.

I found this at ABE's. What do you guys think of this set ?

PANASONIC TH-42PX80U 42-inch Plasma Television HDTV - $869.18 which includes free shipping and a wall mount for free! It is 720P however.

 

[mshan]

If it doesn't serve double duty as a computer monitor or PS3 display, I personally like 720p a lot.

1080 always seemed a little too digital (discrete pixels), while 720 (even if it is really 1366 x 768) always seemed to be very pleasing to my eye.

I think I read that 720p always cleans up a lot of digital nasties because it is progressive scan (I assume 1080p displays would do the same).

And I think a lot of people will say you won't be able to detect difference between 720 and 1080 (again excluding use as computer monitor as PS3 1080 1:1 pixel mapping), unless diagonal is like over 60 inches.

edit: I read that lcds and plasma have improved slightly year over year, so you might want to make sure that that display is this year's model. Difference is probably small, but if price is about the same, I'd probably go with the current year model.

AVS Forums might also help you make a very educated decision. Good Luck!

 

[KarenMarie]

WalMart has a Sanyo DP32648 32inch LCD HDTV for $498 on sale.

1366 x 768 at 720p
Built-in ATSC digital/NTSC analog tuner
1500:1 contrast ratio and 6.5-ms. response time
HDMI, component video, S-video, composite video, audio and PC connections
6-watt stereo amplifier, two built-in speakers and coaxial digital audio output

that seems like a good deal to me.

What do the rest of you guys think?

 

[kRocket]

Well, I went on a field trip to Best Buy this afternoon. I pulled the trigger and bought the TH-42PX80U from them. They came down a little on the price and it was only about $100 more than Abe's. I figured it was worth that much to have the vendor 30 miles away.

So thank you everyone that contributed to the solution of my dilemma. My wife and managed to get into the house with me in a wheelchair holding my end and her holding the other and pushing. We were able to install it in less than a half hour, at least for the present because I don't have HD as yet. So, I am wathing it right now. Again thanks everyone!