What should I keep in mind when shopping for an LCD TV?
Monday, December 28th, 2009 at
11:59 am
I’ve only ever had tube TVs, but I’m now ready to join the 21st century and get a flat screen.
Any tips to get the best value? What model do you have and how has it been for you?
It’s just for my bedroom, so I’m thinking an LCD between 26-32 inches.
What brands are best? What brands should I stay away from? I started looking at Target and Walmart, but a lot of those I haven’t even heard of! When buying a name brand are you really just paying for that name or are they truly better?
I want to spend less than $500. Thanks for any tips!
Tagged with: Keep • mind • shopping • Should
Filed under: Question & Answer
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I say this a lot, but go Samsung. They aren’t cheap, but the pic quality is the best. Sony is second, then LG, then Sharp, just don’t buy a Westinghouse, you will be throwing your money away.
When you buy electronics at Walmart, you are buying a cheaper model. Walmart has so much buying power, they can force manufacturers to cut costs on specific models they want to sell. This is why walmart stuff breaks more often.
You should keep in mind that you can get a similarly sized CRT (tube) television for about half the price. CRT isn’t a dead technology yet, it still provides a better picture overall than LCD. (When you factor in the fact that most LCD’s now are 720p while similarly-sized CRT’s are 480i, you get comparable picture quality: resolution isn’t as important as most people think, as contrast, response time, and color clarity are more influential, those are all areas where CRT beats LCD any day).
Samsung and Sony usually are the best quality, but you’ll pay top dollar for them.
Toshiba, Sharp, and Zenith/LG are pretty good.
Magnavox/Philips, Imation/Memorex, and Vizio are all right.
Apex, Westinghouse, Dynex, and Insignia are more towards the lower end of the spectrum, but aren’t as bad as the ones you and I have never heard of.
By the way, I own a new Memorex 20 inch flat-screen CRT. It works out very well for me, and it cost me $160 at Target, about half of what I would have paid for a similarly-priced, similarly-capable LCD.
for the price they are charging now for lcd tvs it does not pay to save the 25-50 bucks by buying a no name brand. do not buy mail order. you can get a good samsung 32″ at bestbuy for $498 the 32″ vizio at walmart at $447 is actually a decent tv. do not buy any extended warranty!!
When you buy a name brand TV, you pay more because the quality is there, not because it’s a brand name! If a TV is super cheap…that’s because it’s a super piece of crap!
Sony & Panasonic are some of the most expensive TV’s out there but that’s because they are the most reliable & popular brands in the business with the best picture qualities! LG and Samsung are among those great brands as well! Toshiba and Vizio’s are good…Phillips, Magnovox, Insignia & Dynex are OK…everything else you may want to stay away from!!!
And as for that Andy guy, Walmart has cheaper prices because they pay their employees crap wages and they carry brands nobody knows of from countries like China & Taiwan! Not because they force manufacturer’s to cut their costs…that’s ridiculous!
Here’s a blog that pretty much says all you need to know in regards to getting a TV and the different resolutions and what they mean : http://www.firefoldblog.com/?p=505
Hope it helps!
Budget and desired size, thanks for providing those. It makes giving suggestions way easier.
Basically in the size that you’ll be looking at, don’t get too hung up with all the marketing technical specs you see advertised. Most of those specs don’t really require you to worry about them, or get the “better” versions of them, until you breach 40″ and moreso 50″. So whatever you do, don’t let yourself go dizzy with all the marketing that will be thrown at you.
To try and maintain a decent image quality though you do want to stick with the tried and true brands. Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, and LG are all good recognizable brands in the LCD market. A very good up and comer though is Vizio. They make TVs with very respectable image quality and often at much more affordable prices.
At your budget at 32″
Samsung LN32A330 – $500 @ Best Buy
Vizio VW32LHDTV – not sure of the price, but should be around your budget or lower (I think Walmart might sell it).
At your budget at 26″
Panasonic TC-26LX85 – has been replaced by the TC-L26X1 (2009), but either option is fine. It kind of floats a bit higher than your budget, buy look for one of these with a good sale. Its about as good a TV you’ll get at that size.
Samsung LN26A450 or LN26B460 (2009 model) – either of those should be sub $500 and provide a strong image quality for you. I believe both were sub $500 on Amazon.
Toshiba 26AV502U is another decent choice. $450 on Amazon.
http://hdguru.com/
http://www.cnet.com/1990-7874_1-6635863-1.html?tag=buttonWrapper;menu1
both of these are excellent links to not only help make a good choice when buying a new hd tv, but also to prevent spending $$ on options that are use less
For your budget try new model from Samsung,Samsung LN26B360 26-Inch 720p LCD HDTV.Excellent picture.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U3Y8LS?ie=UTF8&tag=100beautytips-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001U3Y8LS