I have to buy a TV. The one that I currently own, a deluxe 19″ Fisher that was given to me by my former brother-in-law is slowly dying. It has these hideous dark lines constantly running through the picture, and because that’s not enough motion the picture likes to get a little shaky and wavy. Plus, there’s the part where you have to turn it off and on and off and on and off and on until the screen is actually filled with the picture and its not just squished into a four-inch band in the middle of the screen.
Technically, I do not have to buy a TV. I could forgo all TV watching or switch to watching it on Gideon’s teeny screen. But, well, I kind of like watching Whore Bus on the big(ger) screen.
What I don’t like is buying electronics. I’ve managed to live thirty-six year without ever purchasing a TV. I’ve owned two stereos in my lifetime. One I got for my fourteenth birthday, it came from the KMart. The other one cost me $89 at Target in 2001. I still have that one.
When it comes to audio-visual equipment I am totally clueless. I try to study up, but it’s in a language I don’t quite understand. Plasma vs LCD, 720p v 1080p, flat panel, HD, none of it means much to me. Spending so much money on something I don’t quite understand scares me. I’m afraid of making the wrong choice.
I don’t even know how much I should pay for a semi-decent flat-panel TV from a trusted brand. Mostly, I just hope I can overcome my indecision before this old TV dies for good.
1. LCD
2. unless you are going big (like 42″) don’t worry about 720/1080. 1080 only useful when playing bluray discs or paying for HD cable.
3. look at it in the store. if the picture looks like crap next to others, it will at home too.
4. 42″ about $800-900. 32″ $500-600. 26″ $400-500.
5. A Wii is $249.95. MarioKart is $49.95.
if you have A/V nuts in your audience they’ll offer TONS of advice, and probably bash this post, alas…
I’m not an A/v nut, but I think the first couple of questions are (1) Do you have a size figured out? 32″? 40″? bigger? and (2) What’dya watch? Weird Swedish movies from the 50s? Football? Local news and Simpsons reruns?
I have a 32″ Samsung I paid about $700 bucks for. It’s cheaper now. My A/V friends scoff at it (too small, only 720P) but I like it a lot. I watch old Simpsons episodes – what do I need 1080P, megaspeed pixels for?
I got a lovely 47″ 1080p set at Best Buy after Christmas for $999. It looks and sounds great and was $300-600 cheaper than the other brands. It’s an Insignia (which I found out later is just an LG). If you’re not an AV nut, then a vizio or insignia will be fine. Just make sure it has VGA, so you can hook your computer up to it! We watch tons of stuff that way now (QI, Being Human, etc) and it looks fantastic.
You just better get your shit together by Sunday. Whorebus finale!
based on what i know about your viewing habits…i wouldn’t go any bigger than 32″. After that you have to sacrifice quality for price. My favorite TV in the whole house is a 19″ flat screen (not LCD or HD) that I bought for the master bedroom. I walked into best buy and decided to by the best TV I could for under $300. So i went with quality in a smaller package over a cheap ass Sanyo that was twice the size.
I’m actually watching Meet the Press on a hot 32″ Samsung I got for about $530 (I think, I can’t remember).
Let’s hear it for freelance checks!
We replaced our broken tube TV a couple of months ago with a 32″ Sony LCD for around $535, and couldn’t be happier. We narrowed our choices down to the Samsung and Sony, but the Sony was on sale.
wat is the damn tv called then darling