New TV for me

February 6, 2007 11:09 AM

New TV needed for gaming, DVDs, but NOT cable/satellite. Point me in the right direction!

My current TV is a 27 inch CRT HDTV and it was an Advent floor model that I bought from Best Buy a few years ago for a great price...now I know why. The TV is definitely on the way out and I've decided that I can afford to spend a little cash and get myself a brand new TV.

I've checked out AVS and searched AskMe but I haven't found anyone with my exact situation yet. I will not be using the TV to watch HD cable/satellite programs. I will only be using it for DVDs, gaming (360 and Wii), and streaming video from a PC.

I know that CRT seems like the best option for me but finding a decent CRT HDTV in a B&M store is getting harder and harder to do. Plus, I'm looking to get a TV that is widescreen and at least 32". A CRT that fits those specifications is 200+ pounds and huge.

Originally, I set a budget of $600 but I'm seeing a lot of decent LCD HDTVs for around $1000. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889022029 This one in particular comes highly recommended as does http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824234015 this one. $1000 is doable but I don't really want to go much higher than that.

Right now, it looks like LCD is the best bet because I don't really want to spend $1500+ on a new TV and it seems like most new plasmas/DLPs/anything else would cost that much or more.

So, in summary...I'm looking to get a new HDTV so I can watch my DVDs, stream video, game, and it doesn't matter how well it displays SD or HD channels since I won't be using it to watch TV. A lot of inputs are always good but I can always get a switch so it isn't a must.

Thanks!

posted by Diskeater to shopping (12 comments total)

Many apologies for the non-working links. Looks like I need some coffee...
posted by Diskeater at 11:12 AM on February 6, 2007

Oho. I just -- last Friday -- bought the Westinghouse 37" 1080p (1920x1080) flatscreen LCD. It runs about $1000 US depending on where you get it, does not have a TV tuner (so it'll probably be cheaper than the Westinghouse you listed if you shop around), and has a variety of digital inputs (although you'll have to get an HDMI adapter if you want to go that route).

The reviews have been excellent, and I'm very, very happy with mine. One does not normally think of Westinghouse when one thinks of displays, but this is a very sweet piece of equipment.
posted by solid-one-love at 11:19 AM on February 6, 2007

(And similar to you, I don't watch live TV on mine, but World of Warcraft on it is So. Very. Nice.)
posted by solid-one-love at 11:20 AM on February 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

If you're planning on playing twitch games on your LCD TV, one very important factor to look out for is the response time. I was quite happy with my Polaroid LCD until I tried playing Guitar Hero on it, and then the 16ms response time becomes noticeable. The lowest I've seen on an LCD TV is 8ms, but there may be some with less.
posted by Durhey at 12:09 PM on February 6, 2007

I know a number of game developers who are very happy with their westing house 1080p monitors for gaming and movies. Where I planning to buy a tv instead of travel I'd probably be buying one too.
posted by subtle_squid at 12:14 PM on February 6, 2007

I have a Sharp 32" AQUOS HD LCD and I'm delighted with it. I use it as a computer monitor, to watch DVDs, to watch football games, and to play PS2 games. It's fantastic at all of those things. The blacks are black, the screen is bright and doesn't reflect, motion is very crisp. It has a bunch of inputs but only one digital HD input.

However, if I were buying an HDTV now, instead of 2 years ago, I'd make sure it had the ability to accept 1080p. The Sharp only takes 1080i, which is not the best anymore.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:48 PM on February 6, 2007

There's a lot of good info in this thread.

Much more goes into the picture than if it accepts 1080 or not (and at certain distances, for certain uses, 1080 is definitely not your first concern).
posted by justgary at 1:04 PM on February 6, 2007

The reason why plasmas and rear projection TVs are more expensive is because they're huge; I'm not even sure you can buy a plasma or rear projection much smaller than 40-50 inches.

Your only real option, in this case, is LCD. If you're not planning on getting a Blu-ray or HD-DVD drive/library any time soon, you can even do without the 1080p (especially because scuttlebutt suggests the 1080p scalers in most TVs today aren't that great), but with prices where they are today you may as well get a 1080p-capable set. Either way it doesn't really matter because at 32-37 inches, you're barely going to be able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p except at close range (helpful graph!).

Westinghouse and Vizio are two dominant manufacturers in the low-end market. If you find an Aquos model that cheap, though, it may be worth jumping on it.
posted by chrominance at 3:32 PM on February 6, 2007

p r o j e c t o r
posted by Quarter Pincher at 4:18 PM on February 6, 2007

Depending on if you have the finicky new PS3, you might want to look into that whole 480p/i - 720p - 1080p/i mess. It'll upscale to some but not others. Someone else can explain, I've read a dozen blog posts about it and still don't understand entirely.
posted by IndigoRain at 9:15 PM on February 6, 2007

Thanks to everyone that responded so far. Lots of great information!

As of right now, that Westinghouse looks pretty sweet and I'm definitely leaning in that direction. Looks like my local Best Buy has the non-1080P in-stock for about $300 less than the 1080p version. If I can find the 1080p one anywhere online for around $1000, I'll probably get it.

A projector is out for something like this because the living room really isn't set up to accomodate one. And I wouldn't be caught dead hooking a PS3 up to anything in my house!
posted by Diskeater at 9:51 PM on February 6, 2007

Westy @ mwave, $989 37w3 (shipping around $40-80)
posted by shoepal at 11:33 PM on March 2, 2007