The Best HD LCD Flat Screens For the Money

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I just bought what Mister Fancypants has. Best Buy ran an ad that was a mistake so they had a very small blurb about it in the paper the next day. Anyway they offered $150 off all LCD TV's so I got it for under $700. I <3 it! I went from a 19 inch to a 32 and the HD is unbelievable. I just wish Comcast offered more HD channels in my area.

Wow! Great Deal! Tell me how you like it?

I too was originally looking online at the 19" Philips for our bedroom, but looking at it in person ...it seems too small for my taste. The 32" had an amazing picture ...even better then the Sony next to it.

[JenAlex 0]

I love it. I'm not to knowledgable about those kinds of things but I know a deal when I see it. The picture is great on the regular channels but the HD is just amazing. Even shows like The Simpsons look awesome in HD.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I love it. I'm not to knowledgable about those kinds of things but I know a deal when I see it. The picture is great on the regular channels but the HD is just amazing. Even shows like The Simpsons look awesome in HD.

(salivating) ohhhhhhhhhh....I want to get one.

[JenAlex 0]

I was going to wait for my hubby to get here and then purchase one together, but I doubt I would have seen a deal like that again. Now I want to hook up the xbox 360 and kill some zombies on it, but since that's his gift I can't open it.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I was going to wait for my hubby to get here and then purchase one together, but I doubt I would have seen a deal like that again. Now I want to hook up the xbox 360 and kill some zombies on it, but since that's his gift I can't open it.

You're going to wait until Christmas?

[Nikita2Charles 33]

SCEPTRE

They were mostly in the the BIG display market and has been making LCD for home in the past couple of years. I got this 42" 2 years ago, and it's still great watching HD. For Sat and Cable a couple of major network sometimes broadcast in 1080i Max, a few channels do offer 720P.

Costco also has a very nice return policy. IT used to be 1 year, but people abused the system so much, they changed it to 90 days return. In the past folks would buy their TV use it for 9 months or so then return if for a FULL REFUND and with Moore's Law it's almost the same as TV, you can buy something Bigger than your current TV and way cheaper than what you paid for months ago.

I returned mine when the price drop by $400 bucks two weeks later, and bought it back. It did drop even futher but didn't want to play the sytem and go through all the hassle.

The picture quality is up to 1080P and you can't beat the price and the return policy.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

LOL...I did a search for the worst rated HD TV's and I found this...

1. Teri Hatcher

In high-def, the Desperate Housewives star looks really desperate. Hatcher's forehead is covered with bulging veins, making it look like a page from a AAA Road Map. And speaking of traveling, she looks like she hasn't driven to a restaurant in years. Hatcher is so skinny that she makes Calista Flockhart look like Queen Latifah. At the 2005 Emmys (the pre-show Red Carpet appearances were broadcast in high-def on INHD), Hatcher's face looked horrible.

2. Demi Moore

Yikes, boyfriend (husband?) Ashton Kutcher stars in That 70s Show, but his main squeeze looks like she belongs in That 50s Show. Moore is only 42, but her skin is extremely coarse and leathery. She also has those tell-tale wrinkles around her lips, suggesting she's a chain-smoker. In case she hasn't noticed, frequent smoking is terrible for the skin -- and it shows up in high-def. Moore used to be in the Brat Pack, but her face looks like it's been buried in a cigarette pack.

3. Donald Trump

And speaking of the Emmys, Trump's face on the 2005 pre-show HD broadcast looked more puffed up than one of his hotel's quarterly reports. I haven't seen fatter cheeks since before Oprah went on a diet. Plus, at the Emmys, Trump's face was covered with an odd mixture of orange and white. Donald, I have two words for your HDTV make-up man: You're fired!

4. Heather Locklear

The 44-year-old TV star is a classic case of the 'HDTV effect.' In regular TV, she still looks great, sexy as ever. But in high-def, the aging lines and wrinkles are everywhere. She looks like a different person.

5. David Letterman

Speaking of lines, the late night host has more lines in his face than his joke writers have lines in their heads. It's amazing how different Letterman looks in high-def. In regular analog TV, he just looks his usual cranky self. But in HDTV, his face has more creases than a 10-year-old pair of pants.

6. President George W. Bush

I saw the president's 2004 GOP convention speech in high-def and he looked okay -- not great, but not bad. But I saw a high-def video of Bush shortly before the New Orleans hurricane crisis and he had that thing that every second-term president eventually gets -- looking older than you really are. The president's face was haggard and coarse, as if the entire weight of the world was on his shoulders. Which, of course, it is. And, after New Orleans and the continuing struggles in Iraq, it may not get any better.

7. Ray Liotta

Hide the kids! Liotta, who often plays a mobster, looked so scary at the 2005 Emmys that I was ready for an Audience Protection Program. His face was scaly and covered with pockmarks. And his eyes were just slits; it looks like he can barely open them. Which could be an advantage when he goes to the mirror every morning.

8. Sandra Bullock

The Miss Congeniality star wouldn't win any beauty contests in high-def; she's 41, but her face looks even older in HD. Even worse, her skin looks like she's had an acne problem for some time.

9. Former President Bill Clinton

I think Monica would discard her presidential kneepads if she saw Clinton now. In high-def. the former president's face is littered with blood-curdling corpuscles. Yeech. And the bags under his eyes are so big that you could put $100 worth of groceries in them. And, maybe it's my imagination, but his nose seems to have gotten bigger, like he's a real-life Pinocchio. As Clinton gets older, he's starting to look like the old comedian W.C. Fields.

10. Clint Eastwood

I love his work, but in high-def, Clint's face looks like his first TV show: Rawhide!

http://www.tvpredictions.com/fall2005hd092605.html

[mRx 16]

LOL...I did a search for the worst rated HD TV's and I found this...

1. Teri Hatcher

In high-def, the Desperate Housewives star looks really desperate. Hatcher's forehead is covered with bulging veins, making it look like a page from a AAA Road Map. And speaking of traveling, she looks like she hasn't driven to a restaurant in years. Hatcher is so skinny that she makes Calista Flockhart look like Queen Latifah. At the 2005 Emmys (the pre-show Red Carpet appearances were broadcast in high-def on INHD), Hatcher's face looked horrible.

2. Demi Moore

Yikes, boyfriend (husband?) Ashton Kutcher stars in That 70s Show, but his main squeeze looks like she belongs in That 50s Show. Moore is only 42, but her skin is extremely coarse and leathery. She also has those tell-tale wrinkles around her lips, suggesting she's a chain-smoker. In case she hasn't noticed, frequent smoking is terrible for the skin -- and it shows up in high-def. Moore used to be in the Brat Pack, but her face looks like it's been buried in a cigarette pack.

3. Donald Trump

And speaking of the Emmys, Trump's face on the 2005 pre-show HD broadcast looked more puffed up than one of his hotel's quarterly reports. I haven't seen fatter cheeks since before Oprah went on a diet. Plus, at the Emmys, Trump's face was covered with an odd mixture of orange and white. Donald, I have two words for your HDTV make-up man: You're fired!

4. Heather Locklear

The 44-year-old TV star is a classic case of the 'HDTV effect.' In regular TV, she still looks great, sexy as ever. But in high-def, the aging lines and wrinkles are everywhere. She looks like a different person.

5. David Letterman

Speaking of lines, the late night host has more lines in his face than his joke writers have lines in their heads. It's amazing how different Letterman looks in high-def. In regular analog TV, he just looks his usual cranky self. But in HDTV, his face has more creases than a 10-year-old pair of pants.

6. President George W. Bush

I saw the president's 2004 GOP convention speech in high-def and he looked okay -- not great, but not bad. But I saw a high-def video of Bush shortly before the New Orleans hurricane crisis and he had that thing that every second-term president eventually gets -- looking older than you really are. The president's face was haggard and coarse, as if the entire weight of the world was on his shoulders. Which, of course, it is. And, after New Orleans and the continuing struggles in Iraq, it may not get any better.

7. Ray Liotta

Hide the kids! Liotta, who often plays a mobster, looked so scary at the 2005 Emmys that I was ready for an Audience Protection Program. His face was scaly and covered with pockmarks. And his eyes were just slits; it looks like he can barely open them. Which could be an advantage when he goes to the mirror every morning.

8. Sandra Bullock

The Miss Congeniality star wouldn't win any beauty contests in high-def; she's 41, but her face looks even older in HD. Even worse, her skin looks like she's had an acne problem for some time.

9. Former President Bill Clinton

I think Monica would discard her presidential kneepads if she saw Clinton now. In high-def. the former president's face is littered with blood-curdling corpuscles. Yeech. And the bags under his eyes are so big that you could put $100 worth of groceries in them. And, maybe it's my imagination, but his nose seems to have gotten bigger, like he's a real-life Pinocchio. As Clinton gets older, he's starting to look like the old comedian W.C. Fields.

10. Clint Eastwood

I love his work, but in high-def, Clint's face looks like his first TV show: Rawhide!

http://www.tvpredictions.com/fall2005hd092605.html

I was watching The Matrix in HD, and I discovered that Lawrence Fishburne's face looks like a pickle. I guess its the one flaw of HD, you see more than you would like.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

A couple notes....

Costco has Vizio and Costco doubles the warranty on any flat panel TV they sell.

check out AV science forums. these people are AV geeks.

LCD Flat Panel Displays

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=166

AV forum home

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

[pedroh 21]

HD TV signals are only 1080i or 720p. To get actual 1080p signal, you need a blue ray or hd-dvd player and discs with content of that resolution.

Blueray or HD-DVD are most likely 1080i. There is no broadcast standard for 1080p yet, only reason to get it now is if you use a computer as a source (I have a home theater PC running at 1920x1080). Not worth the money for most people.

Resolution isn't everything. Your eyes can only see so much detail at 10 feet away. You probably can not tell the difference between 720 or 1080 on anything smaller than 46". I wouldn't care about having 1080p until you have a 55"+ screen.

Keep in mind that aspect is a bigger deal than resolution now. Most broadcast on cable are still NTSC (super low res) with a 4x3 aspect. This means in most cases, you will have pillarboxes on both sides of the screen. You want to by a set at least 25% larger diagonally than what you have now to make up for the lost space on the side of the screen.

I have a 42" Westinghouse 1080i monitor that I got for $1300 new last year. I would probably get a 46" now.

For sound, the cheapeast all-in-one 5.1 system from walmart (~$150 is fine for most people. Any significant improvement will be 10x as much. Most important thing is where you place the speakers.

Plasma or LCD is still the big question. LCDs are better in bright rooms. Plasmas tend to have darker blacks, good if you watch lots of movies in a dark room. I personally think that DLPs look like #######. I would not even consider a CRT these days.

blu ray and hd-dvd offer 1080p.. same xbox360 games and ps3, some offer 1080i, some give u the p

[JenAlex 0]

I was going to wait for my hubby to get here and then purchase one together, but I doubt I would have seen a deal like that again. Now I want to hook up the xbox 360 and kill some zombies on it, but since that's his gift I can't open it.

You're going to wait until Christmas?

If I could pack up the xbox like it was brand new I would be killing zombies right now. Then I'd get really good at NHL07 and kick my hubbys butt.

[GaryC 7]

Steven,

I really researched my TV before I bought it. Everyone is right about the 720P vs 180i thing. I have both kinds and you cannot tell the difference. The 1080p is better but unless your getting a Blu-ray or a HD-DVD you can't use the extra resolution. I just switched from Insight cable to DishNetwork because Dish has 3 times the HD channels at a lower price than my cable.

I recommend a DLP 720p TV. That is where you get the biggest picture for your money. I bought a Toshiba 50" DLP 720p TV. It was a floor model. I picked it up for $1000 at zero interest for 3 years from Circuit City. It comes out to $30/month. I couldn't be happier. I got the extended warranty for $160 and that included a replacement bulb (the part that wears out) at the end of the 2 years if it didn't go out sooner. That is a $200 bulb for $160 basically with the added bonus in home service.

If you have a budget of about $1000 that is what I would recommend you get. Try this one:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsung-50-...roductDetail.do

[pedroh 21]

Steven,

I really researched my TV before I bought it. Everyone is right about the 720P vs 180i thing. I have both kinds and you cannot tell the difference. The 1080p is better but unless your getting a Blu-ray or a HD-DVD you can't use the extra resolution. I just switched from Insight cable to DishNetwork because Dish has 3 times the HD channels at a lower price than my cable.

I recommend a DLP 720p TV. That is where you get the biggest picture for your money. I bought a Toshiba 50" DLP 720p TV. It was a floor model. I picked it up for $1000 at zero interest for 3 years from Circuit City. It comes out to $30/month. I couldn't be happier. I got the extended warranty for $160 and that included a replacement bulb (the part that wears out) at the end of the 2 years if it didn't go out sooner. That is a $200 bulb for $160 basically with the added bonus in home service.

If you have a budget of about $1000 that is what I would recommend you get. Try this one:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsung-50-...roductDetail.do

agreed..

and yea, 720p and 1080i, is basically teh same thing.. cuz the 1080 lines aren't refreshing at the same time, but half and half....

hey gary, i got my tv from circuit city too, they got very good deals, although mine was lcd, but i saw them dlp's, they are nice.. but Idon';t have that much space in my appt to get a bigass dlp, if not, I've gotten one

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I went with JenAlex's model....Philips 32" LCD.

After the initial programming, I'm receiving HD local channels with just basic cable service (cable from wall to tv..no box)...which is great. However, my cable co. (Cox Cable) says that in order for someone with a HD TV to receive HD signals, they need to sign up for the service. Are they trying to pull the wool over the consumer's eyes or am I somehow getting HD channels right now accidentally? (I don't want to pay for anything more than what is necessary)

Edited November 21, 2007 by Mister Fancypants

[bostonparis 0]

Could you possibly be getting the channels, but not in HD? I know we had to get an extra cable because the HD signal was too strong for the regular cable.

I honestly don't know much about this stuff. We have a nice Sony Bravia HD that I love (since we got it "fixed" with the right cables etc.), but other than that, 1080, 760, I don't know.

But about Sandra Bullock! I think she's so cute! I had heard that Teri Hatcher wasn't happy about the HD.