What do i look for when purchasing a HDTV? I want a 42", what's a good price for one?
Answer:
I have seen prices from $1300 - $2000+ ! The norm is going to be around $1599 in an electronics store (ie. Best Buy, Circuit City) If you want to be thrifty check out your local bulk stores (ie. Sam's, Walmart, Costco, etc) If you want to spend the $ go with Sony or Samsung. Stay away from LG as tempting as the price is! (Picture Quality) Definitely 1) Go into the store and compare picture comparisons and 2) Make sure and get a LCD TV (They last a lot longer than Plasmas for less $!) Happy Hunting!
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Look for a 720p or a 1080p. Higher the number better the picture, but also the price is higher. I think 1500.00 for a 720p is pretty good. 1080p will run around 2500-3000.
This is a great deal...
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First off if you don't have digital cable then buying an HDTV is just a waste of money. To really benefit you'll need to purchase the HD package provided with your digital cable. If you plan to only watch DVD's then you'll need a dvd player with an up convert or a blueray dvd player. Conventional dvd players only display at 480p. The picture quality will only be as good as the signal.
When the specs say 1080I or 1080P they're the same picture quality. You'll see 1080I with projection sets and 1080P with plasma, lcd and dlp. The resolution is the same it's just a difference in the way the image is displayed. The difference the in the picture will come in the contrast. A plasma tv will have a more true black than an lcd. The range of colors between true black and true white is better in a plasma set. A common myth with plasma sets is they burn out in 7 years. That used to be true but the technology has caught up with the times and these sets last 20+ years now. When it comes to picture quality you'll need to compare the tv's side by side using the same input feed.
That brings us to the next topic, input feeds. The best signal is hdmi. If the tv has more than 1 hdmi connection that's good. You can connect your blueray dvd to one and your digital cable to the other. The more inputs the more you're going to pay.
Another cost saver is the built in cable tuner. Some tv's come with a build in cable tuner. If you're going to use the tuner provided by your cable company then you don't need a built in tuner. TV's with built in tuners cost about $200 more. Also, some sets come with the ability to accept tuner cards. You can buy or rent the tuner card from your cable company. You'll want to find out if the tv can accept the bi-directional card. Bi-directional cards allow you to use pay per view using your remote because it sends the signal for your purchase back to the cable provider.
Depending on the features of the set a 42" hdtv will cost $1500-$3500. Personally I don't think brand matters. If you find 2 identical sets one with a 1 year warranty and the other a 2 or 3 year warranty get the one with the longer warranty. If you purchase a dlp be sure to buy the extended warranty. The bulb in dlp's tend to go often and at $250 a pop you'll pay for the extended plan with just 1 bulb. One reason I don't put a lot of stock in brand is when you compare the Bravia with the Aquos, same features, the Bravia is $200-$500 more because of the Sony name.
So basically find a 1080 tv with the features you want. Then look at prices and buy the brand you feel most comfortable with.
Don't get an off brand. I'm really impressed by the Sony LCDs. great detail in the picture. You can put the LCDs on the wall so not much real estate is taken up.
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