My 31" TV is starting to go on the fritz, so I'm beginning to look at new ones. I think my TV cabinet will hold a 35" screen (or thereabouts) so I'm looking to get something slightly larger than what I have now.

Does it make sense to purchase an HDTV-ready model now? I don't have digital cable and I'm not planning to upgrade anytime soon, so I don't have any digital stations to watch. Do digital-ready sets give you about the same picture quality on analogue signals as regular TV's or do they sacrifice some quality in the analogue display to give you better digital display?

Anyone got any recommendations on brands? I was at Circuit City the other day trying to compare picture quality and couldn't really come to any decisions.

 

That's because you were at Circuit City and they suck ASS! Try Best Buy and you'll find the perfect set. Plus, you can take advantage of their 6 months NO interest.

 

Better yet, avoid both Circuit City and Best Buy and get it from Sears. Yeah, Sears. At least they have a half-decent service relationship with the manufacturer. CC and BB won't be able to do crap for you if it breaks, but Sears is really quite good with the service.

As for the TV itself, I wouldn't bother with HD ready unless you were gonna get a widescreen. HDTV will be in 16x9 and it'd be a total waste if you got a 4x3 (tradition) aspect TV. Besides by the time they go full digital broadcast, an HDTV will be much cheaper and you should be able to afford to upgrade with whatever you saved from not buying an HD-ready set now. (Did that make sense?)

As for brands, I dunno. I used to like Sony but their quality seems to have gone down in the past few years. I have a Mitsubishi bigscreen and it's great, but I don't know if they still make tube TVs. I'd check out some A/V forums like www.hometheaterspot.com or even www.avsforum.com.

 

A couple weeks ago I bought my parents a 32 inch Panasonic at Costco for $426 plus tax. Best deal and best set I could find for the money.

 

Ditch your analog cable service and get DirecTV. In my area, DirecTV is cheaper than cable, and so so so much better. Be sure to request the dual LNB dish, so you can receive HD broadcasts from the secondary satellite. Theres no extra charge for the oval dish. Then you'll be able to watch HDNet, HBOHD, and the Showtime HD channels. You'll need to use an HD-capable satellite receiver, which will be an additional charge over the ordinary receiver DirecTV gives you. Then you'll need a HD compatible television, which gives you a reason to buy a digital TV! Welcome to the 21st century.

 

Get with DarkCrow....he's a very good resource for HDTV's and such!

 

Only two brands I would ever consider for TV's... SONY or Toshiba. For flat panels, Pioneer is the best.

 

The Dec 2002 Consumer Reports has an update on 27", 32" and 35" inch screeens, which you might want to look at for a baseline.

I personally just bought a Toshiba Flat Screen (model 32AF42?) at Best Buys. The picture quality is great. It was approx. $700.

In doing the comparision, the Toshibas in that size range just had a clearer, sharper picture with better color balance.

Anything over 35", I would go for the Mitsubishi, they looked awsome.

Michael

 

Hitachi gets great reviews, I have a 56" Hitachi Ultravision Widescreen. I did a lot of research before buying. Went to the stores 10+ times without buying. Finally decided on Hitachi. Awsome, awsome picture quality and clarity. Doesn't wash out in sun light, minimal reflective glare. Of course, that doesn't help Ags2K much.

The Sony Wega's get decent reviews. Not to offend, but I aviod BestBuy like the plague. Hate it. HATE it. I bought from Brandsmart, got a price comparable to buying on-line.

 

I don't know if you have an Audio Craft (www.audiocraft.com) near you, but thy have the best equipment and the most knowledgeable people I have ever come across. Plus, they have some of the most up to date items. They're expensive, but you may learn a lot from them, then you can buy something you like from another store.