LCD TVs & $$$ Expectations

May 29, 2009 2:17 PM

Including both big-brands and generic, what should I expect $500-600 to get me as far as LCD TVs go? 30-40 inches? Unreasonable?

In my online shopping, LCD TV prices seem so variant...is there any insight someone can offer? I'm using the TV for predominantly gaming, TV and some movie watching purposes.

Any brands to avoid? LG? Vizeo? Generic just as good as the big guys?

HELP!

posted by AlbatrossJones to technology (15 comments total)

If you keep an eye out, you can easily nab a TV in that size range for that price range. I got a Viewsonic 37" LCD about a year ago for $600 shipped from Newegg, and couldn't be happier with it. The biggest brands(Sony, Samsung, etc) are going to be pricier than that. If you're not averse to refurbs, E-cost can have some ridiculously low prices, especially on the cheap brands like Westinghouse. I've never purchased from them, so cannot vouch.
posted by owtytrof at 2:29 PM on May 29

FWIW, Costco.com:

Sceptre 32" HDTV LCD, $349.99
Vizio 32" HDTV LCD, $399.99
Hitatchi 32" HDTV LCD, $449.97
Sceptre 37" HDTV LCD, $479.99
Proscan 37" HDTV LCD, $499.99
Sony Bravia 32" HDTV LCD, $529.99
Vizio 37" HDTV LCD, $579.99
posted by Comrade_robot at 2:32 PM on May 29

Generics are not as good as the major brands (Sony, Sharp, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, Panasonic). Mostly this is reflected in lower quality standards for the underlying panel.

The real question is whether the quality/price tradeoff is worth it to you. The only way to get a feel for this is to go to a few retailers and look at the sets in person. Take a little notebook and make some side by side comparisons. Consider taking a friend who doesn't know much about electronics brands and thus won't be too swayed by the brand names. That second opinion can help keep things objective.

If time is not a big issue, then I recommend waiting and watching sites like dealnews.com that aggregate the current best deals from various retailers. If you're willing to wait a few weeks I can almost guarantee that you can get a 32" brand name in that price range or a 37" generic. If you're very lucky, a 37" brand name will come along.

You may or may not feel comfortable also shopping the refurbished or open box sections of websites or brick & mortar stores. Sometimes the discounts are substantial, but pay close attention to the warranty and return policy fine print.

You may ultimately want to buy in person, if that's feasible, because of the ease of returning or exchanging it if you have problems. Most LCD TVs, if they are going to fail, will fail either within the first few weeks or after a few years.
posted by jedicus at 3:02 PM on May 29

slickdeals.net had a vizio 50' deal for $500.00 yesterday (but expired now).

If you wait around, you can def get a great deal!!!
posted by boyinmiami at 3:03 PM on May 29

I got a 42" 1080p Dynex for ~600 from BB (with in-store pickup) around x-mas and I love it. The body is ugly, but the screen is nice.
posted by ejoey at 3:36 PM on May 29

What jedicus said- and I would put Sony and Panasonic as the top two on that short list.
posted by Zambrano at 3:40 PM on May 29

Best Buy currently has a Dynex 42" 1080p LCD tv for $600. I actually seriously considered this exact tv when I was looking for a new tv. Dynex is their store brand and at least some of them use Samsung screens, which is a very good thing because Samsung makes the best LCD screen at the moment. When I was looking at tvs, many Dynexes looked better than the name brands that cost $200-300 more.

That said Samsung (solidly number one) and Sony (solidly number two) make the best tvs at the moment. Look up the reviews of any individual model you are looking at. TV technology is evolving incredibly fast at the moment. Even the lower end tvs are as good as high end tvs from just a couple of years ago.

That said, a lot is going to depend on the size you want. If you want a 40-42" tv you will probably want 1080p and will probably end up with a generic or store brand. If a smaller size is acceptable then 720p will probably be good enough and will allow you to get a higher end brand like this Samsung.

Keep an eye out on Dealnews.com. They have a very good list of current sales.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 3:43 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]

USED -- $350 can get you a 55-inch rear-projection HDTV. I know this because we bought one off Craigslist several weeks ago. We're in hog heaven. I don't know why people aren't happy with perfectly fine 4-year old technology, but I'm not complaining.
posted by crapmatic at 4:33 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]

you probably want to narrow down what you want in a TV.. if you just want the largest panel you can get, you can evidently get >40" in your pricerange. personally, I (probably) have the same ViewSonic owtytrof has from NewEgg, and it's been a great screen so far. it's, however, 37" (not an issue for me - that was the size I wanted), and it's not 120Hz and the color isn't as good as higher-end brands (but is perfectly acceptable for me).

the store brands can be good but are worth checking out in store - I've heard good stuff about Dynex. (personally, I would have bought a Dynex but the ViewSonic was cheaper.)
posted by mrg at 4:49 PM on May 29

Stay away from mailorder liquidators like Tiger Direct, unless your time is worthless.

A coworker recently was whining to me about endless delivery problems with his TD order, and I'm like, dude, you get what you pay for.

I will shortly follow this content free post with something more useful.
posted by intermod at 7:57 PM on May 29

I wrote the following about a year and a half ago and am copying it into here. I've trimmed it down quite a bit.

HDTV purchase tips

I assume that you already know the basics. Like the fact that any HD set, of any size of resolution, can scale and properly display any HD signal, so you're not wondering if a 720p set can display 1080i (duh, it can). Like the tradeoffs of plasma vs LCD, and that LCD is killing plasma in a hurry.

In general, you want to hit the pricing sweet spot. Not too cheap that you have problems with the set from day one, and not so expensive that you regret spending all that cash for something that's not going to age well, considering how rapidly the market is moving.

1. The big makers are the three S's: Sony, Sharp and Samsung. You can't go much wrong by buying one of these three. Yes, there are bargains out there by the likes of Vizio and Olevia et cetera, but you just have to spend an hour in the AVSforum threads for those models to find out what kinds of problems those people have to live with.

2. Avoid the higher end 1080p displays. I was really set on buying one of these, but what I found is that the higher pixel densities place demands on the manufacturing processes that the suppliers haven't fixed yet. The consumer forums are infested with people bitching about uneven lighting, banding, and other flat panel artifacts that you would hope not to have to deal with on a $3000 display. Instead, buy a higher quality 720p model and you'll never look back. Sets with a 720p resolution will still "wow" you and you won't notice the difference if you sit more than 6 feet from your TV.

3. Don't be afraid to get a modestly sized set. You 'll be pleasantly surprised how big a "small" 37 inch set looks in your living room. Sure, in the electronics store showroom it looks puny next to the bigger model, but once you get it home it looks a lot bigger. And you won't be breaking the bank. Settle for a set between 37" and 42" for now. Check out this great little TV size calculator for help in visualizing what kind of improvements in image size you'll be looking at.

4. Don't worry about whether the set can do HDMI 1.3 . And don't bother spending more than 2 minutes even trying to understand what that even means. It doesn't matter.

The items above will save you hundreds of dollars because you won't be artificially limiting yourself to displays that have 1080p resolution or HDMI 1.3 interface capability, and will save you a lot of grief because you won't be dicking around with returning or repairing (or lamenting) that cheapo set you got.

5. Don't get caught up in picture quality. Unless you are a cinematographer, or television editor, with suitably calibrated eyeballs, you just won't notice any differences that can't be simply corrected by adjusting the display settings. Or put another way, you're likely to have the display settings all screwed up anyway (brightness cranked up, for example) so the slight differences in display model just aren't going to make a difference. And certainly don't compare the sets in a store; at best, the store staff will have them set wrong, and at worst they will game the settings to make a certain model look better because they're trying to sell it. I'm including black level and contrast ratio in the things that you shouldn't really care about.

6. DO get concerned about features. Brace yourself for a big step back, because these new flat panels are lacking a lot of the features, and careful design, that you may take for granted on your old CRT. Dual tuner picture in picture? Nope? Intelligent muting behavior? Nope. It's going to take a few years for the manufacturers to remember how to do those things right again.
posted by intermod at 8:03 PM on May 29 [3 favorites]

About 2 weeks ago I bought a 32" Insignia from Best Buy for $400.
posted by srrh at 8:08 PM on May 29

So glad you asked this, my partner and I have been looking as well. I've been asking all of our friends and family who are LCD-blessed for advice.

While I can't speak for televisions, I had an LG cell phone that died in a year and an LG fridge that has already been repaired twice - and that's only about two years old. Maybe I've had bad luck but I'll never, EVER buy anything LG ever again.

My folks have a 42 inch Panasonic. It's a kickass television, and completely and utterly out of our price range. We didn't really consider that an LCD might be in our budget until our friends got a 32 inch Sony Bravia (for about $650, I think). For one of the "smaller" sizes, it still looks huge to me. They're very happy with it, especially for gaming. Happy shopping!
posted by futureisunwritten at 9:31 PM on May 29

I bought a 37" Vizio 720P LCD and I must say I'm pretty happy with it. A "second tier" brand can provide a nice picture for a nice price. I use mine for general TV, PS3 and the occasional BD movie and it suits just fine. Also keep in mind that companies like Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and Sharp don't make their own panels, they buy them just like Vizio, Dynex etc... Of the major HDTV brands only LG and Samsung actually make their own panels, I don't know why but that just strikes me as significant for some reason.
posted by MikeMc at 10:44 PM on May 29

companies like Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and Sharp don't make their own panels

That is generally not true. I know that Sharp does outsource the smaller panels (like 20 inches) but they make the larger size themselves.

It's a useful line for Vizio et al to use, but it's just not true.

http://www.google.com/search?&q=does+sharp+make+their+own+lcd+panels

http://www.google.com/search?&q=sharp+lcd+plant

http://www.sharp-world.com/contents/aquos/kameyama/
posted by intermod at 4:35 PM on May 31