Advice

[masman71]

My friend is looking for a new HDTV and his wife has put his budget at $2400 dollars. He will be using it in a smaller room mostly for TV with some dvd. He doesn't want to buy a CRT because of the size. Under these circumstances does anyone have any recomendations?

[aud19]

A smaller DLP RPTV would be a good option or if he has light control a projector. LCD is another option but likely out of his budget.

It's a shame, he could get a really nice CRT RPTV for that :)

Jason

[Kevin P]

What size screen is your friend looking for? How big is the room? How far away will he be sitting from the TV?

[masman71]

I am not sure of the size of his room but I know that he lives in a smaller sized apartment. He told me that he found these two TVs in his price range:
Both Panasonic
1.)
PT-43LC14
43" Diagonal LCD Projection HDTV Monitor with Photo Viewer SD / PCMCIA Card Slots

2.)
TH-37PD25U/P
37" Diagonal Plasma TV with Built-In ATSC/QAM/NTSC Tuners and CableCARD Slot

Has anyone had any experience with these. Are these worth his money?

[aud19]

Shane and Brandon both seem to like the Panasonic's. Check out this thread:
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=9001

Plasma's do tend to be more $$ for a given size and decent PQ compared to other technologies though.

Jason

[Shane Martin]

The Pansonic 42" Plasma would probably fit the bill. I don't think you can get a 42" Rear Projection LCDTV for that yet nor can you get a DLP for that.

Plasmas aren't for everyone though.
Plasma's do tend to be more $$ for a given size and decent PQ compared to other technologies though.
It is a shame because he could get a 65" RPTV for that.. Granted that is too big, but a 48" Mits would be nice(and IMHO not soo big). Those run around $1600.

[Kevin P]

Note that the 37" Plasma mentioned above only has a resolution of 854 x 480. Adequate for DVD and cable but not HDTV. This is typical of cheaper plasmas.

At that size and price range, you're better off with a LCD, whether direct view or rear-projection. Or a CRT, which will give you the best possible picture, at the expense of a bigger box and a little more tweaking.

[Shane Martin]

Or a CRT, which will give you the best possible picture, at the expense of a bigger box and a little more tweaking
True but he didn't want that apparantly.
At that size and price range, you're better off with a LCD, whether direct view or rear-projection.
Right but he's not going to get one for that price unless he goes with something below 35"(30" range to be honest).

The 42" Sony Wega is the cheapest LCD out there and it is above his budget by $500ish or so last I looked. I strongly considered their LCD until I kept getting scared away by the bulb issues they were having.

[aud19]

Yup at that price range he's either looking at a pretty small set (LCD or DLP RPTV's) or an inexpensive front projector and depending on how deep the room is and how much light control there is he may or may not be able to do FP. A "Table Top" 42+" CRT RPTV would be great for PQ and budget if he doesn't mind a slightly deeper box though at that size they're not all that big either. Still the best route for the $$ IMO if he can handle a few extra inches in depth. The biggest problem with getting any of the thinner displays at that budget is that they're the lowest quality versions of those technolgies and as such PQ and reliablilty suffer.

Jason

Jason

[willbrosk]

Well not sure if this is an option but you can obtain the Sony’s KF-42WE610 for 2200 including taxes and shipping at several online retailors. I actually picked up a refurbished Sony KF-60we610 for 2400 shipped

[steffche]

Note that the 37" Plasma mentioned above only has a resolution of 854 x 480. Adequate for DVD and cable but not HDTV. This is typical of cheaper plasmas.



I beg to differ.....only because I have seen two philips 42" plasmas side-by-side where one was HDTV and the other was EDTV. Both were hooked up to the same HD Set Top box, and I couldn't for the life of me tell the difference between picture quality........ 8O

[aud19]

1- You're lucky.

2- Buy the cheaper one :lol:

Jason