I am wanting to buy a 32" TV set. I need to keep the price under $1000. I figure an HD ready set will work (or HDTV monitor), since my programming will be coming from a satellite box. I live out in the hinterlands, so terrestrial broadcasts of HD programming are not readily available.
What model TV’s do you guys like? Anyone with an especially good experience or an especially bad experience? What are brands to look for and what should I avoid? Toshiba is highly rated in Consumer Reports. Sanyo seems to have some good stuff, but I worry about it’s being too cheaply made. Sony is way too expensive, and I’ve read that there is better stuff for less.
Its all relative. I personally thought my Sony looked better than the other models that I was considering. My brother thought different. I’ve had my Sony HD for almost 2 years now, with no problems.
I recently bought a 32" RCA flat-screen (non-HD) for $449.99 and I’m really happy with it. If you want to get an HDTV, you’re going to spend considerably more, but the longer you wait, the cheaper they’ll be. If you don’t have HD service out there yet, you might just want to hold off on it and pick up a normal set for half the price you’re expecting to pay.
Only thing I don’t like about mine is that it’s ungodly heavy and I don’t look forward to moving out of my third-floor-no-elevator apartment.
Obligatory Simpsons reference: If you like to watch your tv, and I mean really watch it … you want the Carnivale. It features two-pronged wall plug, pre-molded hand grip well, durable outer casing to prevent fallapart…
I bought a 36" flat-screen Toshiba last Nov for about $899 at Best Buy. (I think they’ve gone down since) Non HD, but that wasn’t a major concern for me. The only thing I don’t like is it doesn’t have PIP. Otherwise, I love it. (Still too small though)
I don’t have a specific reccommendation to make, but be sure to select a model with sifficient AV inputs. If you use a home theater box as a AV switcher, you could conceivably get away with only one set of inputs on the TV, but even then I wouldn’t suggest it. My TV has 5 sets of AV inputs, and since I also have a theater box receiver, I can listen to any one source while watching any other.
I always liked the look of Sony televisions but it really is subject to each individual tastes. Sonys just seem to have darker black colors which make the whole picture look better to my eye. Sharp televisons look good to my eye when I pass them in Circuit City.
If your budget is a grand and you’re looking for HD-ready technology, you might consider a front-projection model like the Infocus X1. Retails for $999 and you can knock a hundred bucks off with smart shopping. As long as you have a light-controlled room and a big smooth wall, you can’t beat this for price and quality in the HD area.