HDTV Advice Needed...

"Paul 13 wrote:

First, the background... We (me, my wife, and two children ages 4 and 2) FINALLY moved into our own house! We've been living in a condo since we were married and were fortunate enough to have a fair amount of equity built up (even in today's housing market). So we now have a 3 br 1800+ sq ft single story house (detached, NO HOA'S!!!).

I was hoping our 10 year old 32 inch Panasonic TV that weighs close to 100 pounds would last a little while before the HD TV's prices drop even further. So, upon moving in, we kept our DirecTv package the same (No HD dish). Yet, over the weekend, while watching the Bills game, the thing blew... bam... no more jumbo cube...

Alas, this is where you come in. Now that I am on the verge of going with a new HDTV, I'm pondering the Vizio 42incher LCD, that Costco has selling online for $899. Is this a good deal? I've compared it to some other online places (national) and it seems to be... it's getting good reviews. What do you guys and gals think? I've read that LCD's are easily damaged, and I'm fearing my little 2 year old quarterback throwing something at the TV. i guess buying the extended warranty is a no brainer?

PS. can I upgrade the Directv package to HD, free of installation charges??

Thanks :wink2:

Congrats on the new house!

The Vizio is a very good deal and it's an above-average TV to have. Of course, I'm a bit biased. Make sure it's at least 1080p. I would be concerned with the damage like any bigscreen so if you have a toddler, I might consider the warranty if it covers accidents.

You will need to pay the standard DirecTV charges for HD access, sometimes $5-9.99 a month and a new receiver most likely.

Not a great deal bro, bookmark this page slickdeals.net and check it every day for the next couple days until someone posts a great deal on an HDTV. The brands you want to look for are Samsung, Sharp, and Panasonic. The vizio you are talking about would be a decent TV but not great for that price, only has a 5000.1 dynamic contrast ratio, which is garbage for a $900 tv.

Sunday they had a 40 inch 1080P samsung for $800 that would have blown that Vizio out of the water.

And dont just check the front page of slickdeals, also keep an eye on thier hot deals forum. If you have $900 to spend you probably wont be without a great 1080P tv for too long though no one can predict when the deals will hit.

Just to illustrate the kinds of deals you can find at slickdeals on TV's, just last week I bought a 32 inch 720P Samsung LCD for my brother for $499 shipped. 6mm response time and a 10,000.1 contrast ratio. Not 1080P but still a SUPER hot deal.

How soon do you need a TV by?

"Regan21286 wrote:

Congrats on the new house!

The Vizio is a very good deal and it's an above-average TV to have. Of course, I'm a bit biased. Make sure it's at least 1080p. I would be concerned with the damage like any bigscreen so if you have a toddler, I might consider the warranty if it covers accidents.

You will need to pay the standard DirecTV charges for HD access, sometimes $5-9.99 a month and a new receiver most likely.

yeah its like 10 bucks a month and you need a HD dish also.

"Paul 13 wrote:

I'm pondering the Vizio 42incher LCD, that Costco has selling online for $899

How much space is there going between you (on the couch, TV chair ...) and the TV set? If you got 2.5 meters or less you might seriously consider opting for a smaller (32 inch/37 inch if available) LCD. 42 inch sounds cool but if you don't have enough space between you and the TV, the bigger screen will be useless essentially.

After looking up the Vizio, I'd say that I'd go for a slightly smaller LCD (if you don't have massive space that is) and a better contrast ratio. 5.000:1 is pretty much garbage. I'm running 24.000:1 here and that's a huge difference.

You might want to look up some models by Philips, they produce some of the best LCDs right now (in terms of picture quality). Samsung's great as well at the moment and the stuff by LG (if available in the US) is a lot better than its reputation and a cheap way to a good TV.

Basically: Go for 32/37 inch if you have less than 2.5 meters and opt for as high a contrast ratio as your budget allows. And don't buy the Vizio :wink2:

"dolphan117 wrote:

How soon do you need a TV by?

I'm getting by with my old 20 in. Sony for now, so I could probably wait a couple of weeks, or until my eyes start hurting from the strain... :shifty:

"NJFINSFAN1 wrote:

yeah its like 10 bucks a month and you need a HD dish also.

That's where I'm thinking DirecTv is going to charge me for the installation, since they just set me up on my move. Maybe there's a trick to getting them not to charge you.

Best Buy has a 42 inch 1080P sharp on sale for $899
Sharp - 42" Class 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV - LC42SB45U

Its a lower quality sharp but would still be much better then the Vizio and for the same price. Also because its from best buy you can easily but one of their 4 year protection plans.

"Vendigo wrote:

How much space is there going between you (on the couch, TV chair ...) and the TV set? If you got 2.5 meters or less you might seriously consider opting for a smaller (32 inch/37 inch if available) LCD. 42 inch sounds cool but if you don't have enough space between you and the TV, the bigger screen will be useless essentially.

After looking up the Vizio, I'd say that I'd go for a slightly smaller LCD (if you don't have massive space that is) and a better contrast ratio. 5.000:1 is pretty much garbage. I'm running 24.000:1 here and that's a huge difference.

You might want to look up some models by Philips, they produce some of the best LCDs right now (in terms of picture quality). Samsung's great as well at the moment and the stuff by LG (if available in the US) is a lot better than its reputation and a cheap way to a good TV.

Basically: Go for 32/37 inch if you have less than 2.5 meters and opt for as high a contrast ratio as your budget allows. And don't buy the Vizio :wink2:

thanks, this contrast ratio stuff I didn't even know about... now I'm glad I posted this thread... i thought it was all about the 1080 vs 720, then I saw that they do a "FHD," I feel so old and outdated... :lol:

As for the distance, the room is at least 10 feet wide, probably approaching 12 feet. I'll have to measure when I get back home, to know for sure.

"dolphan117 wrote:

Best Buy has a 42 inch 1080P sharp on sale

Add a 100 bucks and go Samsung at Amazon:

Amazon.com: Samsung LN40A550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV: Electronics

"Paul 13 wrote:

I'm getting by with my old 20 in. Sony for now, so I could probably wait a couple of weeks, or until my eyes start hurting from the strain... :shifty:

In that case I probably wouldn't get the sharp I linked, that was more for if you needed a TV right NOW.

If you can afford to wait a little and keep checking slickdeals you should definitely be able to beat both the Vizio and the sharp for about the the same money.

"Paul 13 wrote:

i thought it was all about the 1080 vs 720

It kinda depends. Over here in Germany I'd go 720 every day (a lot cheaper and pretty much the only stuff really making use of 1080 are the PS3 and Blueray) but I really dunno about over there in the US. With HD football every Sunday, 1080 sure sounds tempting.

"Vendigo wrote:

Add a 100 bucks and go Samsung at Amazon:

Amazon.com: Samsung LN40A550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV: Electronics

Good call, so far the only sites I had checked to see what was on sale were best buy and frys. For an extra 100 that is indeed a much better TV.

"dolphan117 wrote:

Good call, so far the only sites I had checked to see what was on sale were best buy and frys. For an extra 100 that is indeed a much better TV.

I'm not really familiar with US prices but judging from the technical specs of this one and the Vizio or the Sharp you mentioned, this looks like a very good deal. I'd kill for such a price over here, that's for sure :up:

"Vendigo wrote:

It kinda depends. Over here in Germany I'd go 720 every day (a lot cheaper and pretty much the only stuff really making use of 1080 are the PS3 and Blueray) but I really dunno about over there in the US. With HD football every Sunday, 1080 sure sounds tempting.

Over here there is still very little in 1080P as well. I think all football is 1080i/720P but there is a new satellite service that is starting to broadcast on demand 1080P stuff. Cant remember what its called, might be a dish network thing.

I would still go 1080P though because you plan to keep the TV for the next 4 years or so and in that time blue ray will become the standard DVD format.

"Vendigo wrote:

I'm not really familiar with US prices but judging from the technical specs of this one and the Vizio or the Sharp you mentioned, this looks like a very good deal. I'd kill for such a price over here, that's for sure :up:

I would say its a decent deal, but it can probably be beat if he doesnt have to have a TV RIGHT NOW.

I have found that the best way to buy electronics is to NEVER say "I have to have something today". If you are willing to be a little patient and keep up with a simple website like slickdeals you can get way more bang for you buck.

"dolphan117 wrote:

I would still go 1080P though because you plan to keep the TV for the next 4 years or so and in that time blue ray will become the standard DVD format.

As I said, I'm not really that familiar with TV prices in the US but over here it's currently ~550€ for a decent 32 inch 720 and ~1.000€ for a decent 1080 - so I'm figuring that by the time the 1080 has become standard, I might as well buy one then for probably ~550€ as well and, at the end of the day, spend the same money and have two TV sets :wink2:

They have a Samsung 40in at Sears for $799, per that slikdeals site. 30,000 contrast!!

"Paul 13 wrote:

They have a Samsung 40in at Sears for $799, per that slikdeals site. 30,000 contrast!!

Got a link, so we can look it up and give you some feedback?

"Paul 13 wrote:

They have a Samsung 40in at Sears for $799, per that slikdeals site. 30,000 contrast!!

I saw that, and if you can still find it at your local sears then by all means BUY IT UP. The reason I didnt post it is that when I went to thier website it was no longer in stock.... If your local sears still has one though that would be a great TV to buy.

"Vendigo wrote:

As I said, I'm not really that familiar with TV prices in the US but over here it's currently ~550€ for a decent 32 inch 720 and ~1.000€ for a decent 1080 - so I'm figuring that by the time the 1080 has become standard, I might as well buy one then for probably ~550€ as well and, at the end of the day, spend the same money and have two TV sets :wink2:

This was the TV I was able to get for 500 last week
FRYS.com | SAMSUNG

Its out of stock now and the price has went back up. That was a super hot deal though, normally that would have been about a $700 TV.

"Vendigo wrote:

Got a link, so we can look it up and give you some feedback?

Samsung 40" (Diagonal) Class LCD Full HD (1080p) Television $799 (or $719 AR w/ Sears Card) + $65 shipping or pick up in store - SlickDeals.net Forums

Like I said though, its no longer on Sears web page so its very much hit or miss on whether your local Sears happens to have one in stock.

"dolphan117 wrote:

This was the TV I was able to get for 500 last week

Wow. Slick deal, mate. I've just bought a 32 inch 720 for my bro today and I was getting a slick deal at 500€. I really need to go to the US more often and think of a way to smuggle consumer electronics past the German customs agents.

"Vendigo wrote:

Wow. Slick deal, mate. I've just bought a 32 inch 720 for my bro today and I was getting a slick deal at 500€. I really need to go to the US more often and think of a way to smuggle consumer electronics past the German customs agents.

Bribe them with Booze. :shifty: