Ask Engadget: How do you shop for a HDTV? - Engadget

i don't know about you all, but i don't see the point of getting a flat screen, when you're gonna have "thick" equipment, such as DVD players, under it, wasting the space that was meant to be wasted. so i look at DLPs, because they're ultra cheap. you can pretty much get a 60" screen (which is unbelievbly amazing) and 1080p (the p is very important) for about $2000.

i always go to www.techbargains.com and type hdtv.

there's usually a samsung model that's nice. i looked at it in a store and it's very good.

Its an investment.

You buy what feels good for you, your budget, your living space - knowing that because of its price, you probably won't be buying a second one (therefore you gotta get it right the first time). Its best to get a model which is upgradeable since newer component equiptment comes out all the time (video game consoles, HD DISK players, and HD TV equiptment from major carriers like Verizon and Time Warner. Therefore, HDMI connections are a MUST (as well as component/composite cables).

Also, care must be taken when choosing a model based on its energ consumption. If your a person who is retired and stays home and watches TV, a HDTV can double (and even triple) your electricity bill. If you play XBOX 360 or PS3 with it, you are likely to have an additional $79 attached to your bills (like myself) at the end of the month.

I have a 50" Sony PLASAM display (1080p) (wall mounted). Despite the horrific electric bills - it was worth every penny simply for its *bling fact* and the advantage I get in First Person Shooters.

I went with a Sony XBR2 lcd cause it was the best 40 inch 1080p panel available.

Its the first TV ive ever owned, so i splurged. Plasma and other projection systems did not interest me at all. My next TV (in a few years) will be a 4k OLED or SED panel.

Joe, even though flat panels are a bit more expensive they last you longer. Typically, plasmas and lcd's will last you 60,000 hours, whereas a rear projection tv will last around 6,000 hours, and after that you will have to replace the bulb. If you plan on having the TV for a long time, or watch it a lot, you will be replacing quite a few bulbs, and the price will start adding up.

Also, alot of 1080p rear projection sets don't do true 1080p. They have chips that accept a 1080p signal, and simulate a 1080p image. Last I heard, Sony was the only one with true 1080p rear projection TVs.

That may have changed though, since a new batch of TVs recently came out. So don't think you are getting a bigger, better TV for a cheaper price. (Personally, I like the quality of plasmas the most, lcds second, and rear projection last.

) "Do it once. Do it right." Save your $2k and spend it towards some better technology.

Ah, yes, wobulation was the word I was thinking of. Good work Burke.
Figure out what you want to pay, what features you really need.

What stuff you want to connect to it, how many ports will you need, size of your room, yadda yadda. When you have these physical specs down, scope around and find the models that fit your profile. Every company has some proprietary technology- most of these things aren't very special at all.

"Super Pixel" technology! "Realisi-pure", blah, blah. Not important.

Picking out picture quality from the bright TV-store floor isn't the best, but for most it will have to do. Take the time to adjust the picture settings on both TVs to get them looking their best. Remember that flaming bright picture doesn't mean the best picture.

A good rule is "if you can't tell the difference, there is no difference." You can read all the detailed videophile reviews you want that examine screen uniformity, color production, etc in a highly scientific matter, but in the end, if two sets look the same to you, paying more for one that you can't appreciate the difference on is wasting your money. This is of course, assuming you have the luxury of previewing the sets in fair setting prior purchasing.

thanks for telling me about that. i didn't know that. according to i think they reduced some of those issues.

Huh, how do you shop for a HDTV? I don't, I look at them, gaze at the price tag, then go over to reality and buy a Samsung or something.

I really like Vizios, they have a great price and amazing quality.

My father had one of their first 39" models and it overheated, we replaced it after the screen would do some strange things. His new one works great, it doesn't overheat and we've had no problems since we replaced it. Hint: Watch your local Sam's.

If you buy out of their "Last items" area of the store, you can often find returned vizios REALLY cheap. I got a 39" plasma for $500, the base was cracked but Vizio customer support replaced it. Well worth the savings.

I buy and install all types of displays for commercial exhibits. There are many caveats and exceptions, but here are some pretty accurate generalizations: Plasma: Best brightness, lowest life, true 1080 rare and expensive. LCD: Longest life, mediocre blacks, not as bright.

DLP: Cheapest, bad viewing angles, fights against room lighting. I consider which size I need for the room, my pricerange, then I look for the TV witht he best black levels and colors I can afford. Ahh my friend, clearly you aren't a gadget whore like me.

I don't really know exactly what thick things you are talking about. My DVD player is my mac mini, nothing thick about that. My video games are my Wii and xbox 360 which can be made slim by propping them on their side.

There is my receiver, and you've got me there, its pretty clunky, but thats really about it. The fact of the matter is, I live in a small space, so if I can essentially reduce 1+ feet from my TV, not to mention reduce the weight of the TV in the process (for future moves, etc) then it pays for itself. I have a 46" Aquos, do you know how deep that thing would be if it was a CTR?

Do you realize that I would have to basically rearrange the small 1BR that I live in to facilitate such a beast? Aesthetics are worth something, just look at anything Apple :)

In Russia, HDTV shops for you. 1.

You goto 5-6 different stores and write down product numbers of ones that look the nicest to you. 2. You go back home and google the part numbers and read reviews, look at features, etc etc.

3. Make an educated decision as to what tv fits your budget/wallspace/hotdog bun. I know that they're clearing out the Sony XBR 34" Widescreen tubes down to almost nothing (we got one for 650$ w/ free shipping from california) and it has every last feature you could ever want.

Oh yea, except it don't wall mount :P But srsly, goto a store and just look at it, and you'll soon realize why it's an XBR.

First i pick a size, then i pick a type, I would recommend LCD, they seem to have the best balance between quality and price, most people can't tell the difference anyway, but even for me, LCD typically looks the best or at least close enough to it when matched with other specs im about to mention. Then i pick supported resolutions, 1080p is pretty much a waste of money right now, so throw that out the window, you really dont need it, its cool to have, but not necessary, Right there you pretty much cut your price in half.

Just make sure it properly supports 720p and 1080i. (Note - If your going to be hooking your PC up to your HDTV, you probably do want the 1080p, thats where you'll really get some use out of it) Now find the TV with the highest contrast ratio and the lowest response time you can afford, find one with some HDMI and a decent amount of inputs (you can always buy a splitter box later, just make sure its a good one) Cut the useless TV tuner out (the ones your cable company gives away are good enough) Cut any built in garbage speakers out (although alot of times your stuck with them), and you have yourself a cheap, very decent HDTV. Add on the stereo/surround system that you can probably now afford and you've got a kickass home theater setup.

Even the cheapest surround system is going to be better than the built in stuff. as for brands, Samsungs, Panasonics, Toshiba, any major brand is usually a good choice, The only one i don't like too much is Sony, not because they are bad but because it seems like your paying alot of extra money because it says "Sony" on it - AKA no good reason, But thats how Sony has always been and people like them anyway so whatever. At least they are reliable, i have a 27 inch SDTV in the basement made by sony thats like 13 years old and still works great (and the picture quality is still amazing compared to these cheapass sdtvs they sell now)

As far as choosing a technology goes, that's driven primarily by pricetag.

If you know how much you want to spend and you know what size you want, you'll probably settle into a technology. The DLP-ish technologies are in the sweet spot for most; if you have a higher budget, plasma may fit the bill. Other considerations include lamp life, burn-in, and stuck/dead pixels.

Size is always a compromise. I watch a lot of SDTV, I sit fairly close to the screen, and I'm an image quality freak. Google for screen size calculators.

Note that people who are trying to sell TVs are going to err on the large size. If you are strictly an HDTV viewer, go huge. If you watch a lot of SD, go smaller.

If you watch a lot of DVDs, the happy medium is somewhere in the middle. The most important deciding factor is to spend a LOT of time staring at televisions. I go to electronics stores for hours at a stretch, wandering around, staring at all the televisions.

Stare at them straight on, stare at them close up, stare at them at angles. Look for jagged edges and artifacts in black areas. The setup in an electronics store is awful, but it's a fairly even playing field.

Try to compare models on the brightly lit showroom floor to level that playing field. The huge TV in the "home theater showcase" looks like it has better contrast because it's in a dim room. Find a similar model on the floor for comparison.

Making a decision should probably take a couple months. But when you get it home and calibrate it, it's worth it.

Hey has anyone seen the difference between the new 120 Hz refresh rate TV's from Phillips or Sharp and the older models?

Is it a big difference?

What about a CRT? I bought a 34" Sony XBR HDTV with DVI and just love it.

It has a superior picture to many of the other options with the only downside being it's shear mass (about $250 lbs).

It is really hard to shop by picture..

. The lighting is really off in the stores.

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