Price seems pretty good (remember, this is Canadian funds):
Thoughts?
BTW - Whats the difference between “HDTV ready” and plane HDTV?
I’m not a fan of projection tv’s unless you put it in a room that is always dark.
HDTV ready means when you, and everybody else in North America, eventually goes out to buy a box that will convert signals into HDTV - that tv is ready to be hooked up to that box.
A regular HDTV will be more expensive as the software and hardware are already included for reception in the HDTV format.
By the way, although the world will bitch royally at having to buy this new HDTV converter box, once people see the difference, the bitching will stop immediately. It truly is better - much better.
Getting back to your tv.
Do you really need to get one now?
Do you really need to get a large screen?
The reason I ask is that prices of plasma tv’s are going down fast and there is also a new invention by the Dutch and Germans that will be cheaper and better than plasma tvs (coming out next year - a roll away screen!).
All these sales on televisions now are simply a way to get rid of stock before the big HDTV conversion. My advice? Buy a big 'ol 36" picture tube tv (selling for about US$550 if you watch for sales). For the time being the picture will be good and the size is good. And when the new technology comes out, prices on the new HDTV flat screens will be dropping fast and deep!
Thanks
It depends upon what you’re going to use the tv for. If it’s for watching off the air broadcasts, DMark gave some good advice, get a tv with a picture tube instead.
If, however, you’re going to be watching dvd’s, hooking up an X-Box, or have a cable or satellite provider that provides an HDTV picture, that’s a pretty good set, though the price seems a bit high. I have the 56 inch version of that set, and it looks good even in a brightly lit room. DMark is correct that it looks best when in a dimly lit room, but this is also true of direct view sets.
If you plan to watch a lot of dvd’s, you need a widescreen tv to take advantage of anamorphic widescreen, which has a third more detail than when played on a 4 x 3 screen. Paired with a progressive scan dvd player (which can be had for less than $200), the picture is truly impressive, and no standard defenition tv/dvd combination can compare.
HDTV ready means that this tv comes with a tuner for standard and cable signals, but not for true HDTV signals. If you want to watch over the air HDTV, you’ll have to buy a seperate decoder–called a set-top-box–and hook it up to one of the sets of component inputs in the back. Very few markets have any stations that broadcast in HDTV right now, and even those only have a few programs, so that shouldn’t be a worry currently. Last time I checked, decoders ran for about $500 American, but that will be coming down rapidly, and by the time HDTV broadcasts become commonplace, they’ll be much cheaper, or even routinely included with the tv the way cable tuners are included now.
But if you get your tv provided through a satellite or cable service, you may never need an over-the-air HDTV decoder. My cable service includes a digital cable box that decodes true HDTV signals. Currently, there are only four channels–HBO and Showtime, East and West Coast feeds–but the programs on those channels look absolutely incredible, especially those recorded on digital equipment or computer animated. As more channels start broadcasting in HDTV, more channels will be added to the HDTV lineup. I’ll never have to get a seperate HDTV tuner; by the time over the air HDTV broadcasts become commonplace, which is still a few years out, tv’s will routinely come with the tuners included.
Bottom line, that’s a good set if you’re going to be watching a lot of dvd’s or if your tv signal comes through a cable or satellite system that provides an HDTV decoder box. Otherwise, you’re better off with a standard def tube set for now.