Help w/ an HDTV

[tr10av]

I'm a college student and have a small budget. I'm looking for the best quality TV that I can get for $600-$800. I realize I'll probably have to settle for 720p but that's Ok for now and it'll probably only be 26" or so.

So does anyone have any recommendations?

[nhaase]

A CRT tube TV will maximize your budget, most likely, so make sure you have a sturdy stand. They are quite heavy. Make sure to look at online retailers such as pricegrabber.com, buy.com, etc. I bought my logitech harmony remote on pricegrabber for about $100 less than Best Buy or any store like that. The only thing you sacrifice then is not being able to get a service plan. Many people I know don't get them, but I do with purchases like my HDTV, and I had to use it 3 months after the fact. It's just a safety net that you probably won't use, though, so you should be fine without it if you get a TV with a proven technology, like CRT.

If you try for one with HDMI, see if it does HDMI 1.3. They are hard to find, though. Any cables you need, I would definitely get from one of the online retailers I mentioned. They are much cheaper through those places. HDMI cables can be $75 to $100 cheaper!

Check Best Buy and places like that for models, as well as seeing them in person, then do research online and shop around diligently for the best price. That way you will get the most bang for your buck.

One last thing. I've had bad fortune with off-brand TVs. I know others who have not, so if you go with a TV not made by a big-name manufacturer, I would advise you to check with other owners a bit more than normal, but that is just my opinion.

[Deciazulado]

Will 24" 1080p x 1920 do? Gateway 24" LCD in the price range you mentioned. No tuner.

[HDTV1080P]

This Gateway FPD248W monitor is a good recommendation. This is a 24 inch PC monitor with over 2 million pixels. It is better then a 1080P since it has 1920 X 1200 in resolution. 1000:1 contrast ratio is a little low but it has a nice 6ms response time. Using a HDMI to DVI adapter this monitor would work fine with HDCP devices like BLU-RAY. **The only thing to remember this is a computer monitor with no speakers. You will need either a surround system or cheap amplified computer speakers that accept a RCA jack plugged into the back of the BLU-RAY player**.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8037117&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat104900050013&id=1158104010302

The second best option is a 30” Widescreen CRT Sanyo 1080I. This HDTV set sales for $448 at Walmart. Walmart has it labeled as a 720P display since it does not do full 1920 X 1080. All CRT’s that are labeled 1080I have a resolution around 1300 X 1080 since no one has been able to produce a HDTV CRT with full 1080I resolution. The average CRT on the marekt has a contrast ratio of 50:000:1. This Sanyo also has both an ATSC and QAM tuner. So you can watch in the clear HDTV channels with an antenna or cable tv service.

http://www.sanyo.com/entertainment/televisions/digital/index.cfm?productID=1240

[tr10av]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

This Gateway FPD248W monitor is a good recommendation. 1000:1 contrast ratio is a little low but it has a nice 6ms response time.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8037117&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat104900050013&id=1158104010302

The second best option is a 30” Widescreen CRT Sanyo 1080I. The average CRT on the marekt has a contrast ratio of 50:000:1.

http://www.sanyo.com/entertainment/televisions/digital/index.cfm?productID=1240

What is the signifigance of the contrast ratio?

[HDTV1080P]

Contrast ratio is the measure of difference in light between the brightest white and the darkest black. The higher the contrast ratio the color reproduction is better against dark backgrounds in the picture. The average CRT has a contrast ratio of 50,000:1 where the closes other technology that comes close is a ceiling mounted LCOS front projector that has a 15,000:1 contrast ratio. Manufactories for years have been working on technologies that one day will have the same or better contrast ratios compared to CRT’s. Those new technologies might be 2-3 years away.

The three disadvantages of CRT is:

• No one makes a consumer 1080P CRT television since the technology is not there to fit 2 million pixels in a large CRT screen that is cost effective. Some old 9 inch CRT front projectors have 1920 X 1080 resolution but they are $20,000-$100,000.
• If an image does not fill the entire screen or an image is left on the screen for a long time you can get a burn in problem. CRT’s and Plasma are the two technologies on the market that offer great pictures but there is a possibility of having a burn in issue.
• CRT’s are big and heavy but they deliver a lot of quality for the money.

If you can afford it go with 1080P. If not get a 1080I CRT that offers a little bit better quality then 720P. Since the Sanyo is only $448 you can always place this second set in another room if in 2 or 3 years you want to upgrade to 1080P. Some times you can find old 37 1080P LCD’s on clearance for around $900, but none lately that I know of. I prefer higher resolution over contrast ratios. Some day with SED or another new technology we might see 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio displays that are 1080P or better in 2-3 years. These sets might be $10,000 or more when they first come out.

[tr10av]

How long does the image have to be on the screen to get burned in?

[HDTV1080P]

It varies depending on how much you have the brightness turned up. If you pause an image on a Plasma or CRT for an hour or several hours with the brightness turned up all the way then image burn in most likely will occur. The image burn in issue is not that big of issue for most people that watch programming that is moving and filling the entire screen. Many people have had CRT TV’s for years. A CRT TV is the old big standard picture tube that just about everyone owns in their house. Normally TV watching is fine, just don’t pause something on it for over 30 minutes to an hour with the brightness turned up on max. The Plasma displays burn in a little easier when watching stuff like FOX or CNN a lot the logo’s can burn in on the screen if watched on these channels for 12 hours everyday. Some businesses use to have CNN on 24 hours a day and all their Plasma displays had the CNN logo burned in the screen. CRT and Plasma’s have improved over the years and are harder to burn images into the screen.
There are some people that have owned a Plasma or CRT for several years and watch stuff that fills the entire screen and have not had any burn in problems. With a CRT or Plasma that is widescreen if one plans on watching 4:3 material for several hours then one should watch it in the stretched mode to fill the screen in order to protect the screen. Watching stuff in the original ratio is the best but CRT and Plasma can get damaged over long periods of time if the entire screen is not filled.

[tr10av]

Ok thanks alot for all the help. I'm going to stop by Wal-Mart on my way home tomorrow and see what they have there.

[dgator783]

I suggest a 32" LCD HDTV Polaroid....I have a 37" of the same brand and it works awesome and looks great, supports 720p/1080i, this cost about 1140 after taxes but the 32" I believe is only about 800 and is well worth the money.....dont bother with crts, they are going to be outdated and crap in a few years if not already......even a 27" LCD HDTV looks great with the PS3 and blu ray....and make sure it has a hdmi in, if it doesnt have HDMI, its worthless....and if u feel like spending some extra dime for a surround sound system, I suggest the SOny HT-DDW900 5.1, 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output, and the speakers sound awesome, a must for blu ray movies....I spent about 2000 for everything, tv, surround, ps3, and cables and now people have trouble getting me to go places....lol