1080i ? 1080p? Help me spend my money

ClydeFrog · 02-24-2008, 01:17 PM

OK, the newest TV in my house is at least 12 years old which WAS fine since I don't really watch much TV. Now I'm buying a new house that's great for entertaining (I can actually have two beers since I don't have to drive) and I'm thinking it would be fun to have a Wii or something to play some games during dart/foosball/card playing events. However my current TV is puny and looks like it would be outmatched by a "Love Boat" box set.

Sooo ... if there's any money left after closing and buying a new 'fridge it's time for some new TV hardware. Based on the family room size I'm thinking 42" on the low end and 50" on the high end and I start to fidget above $1600 because that will cut into my fishing trip money but beyond that I'm lost. Plasma? LCD? 1080i/p? GAAAA!!

I've read that contrast ratio is more important than color and (for now) 1080p is probably not worth the money for smaller screens but I don't know what is worth the money. Has anybody bought anything in that range recently that they're happy with (or unhappy with) ? Any thoughts would certainly be appreciated because I have not kept up with the technology here!!! Danke!!!

Soul · 02-24-2008, 02:46 PM

More importantly when is the first party? I would like to start planing now!

:P

Sorry I am of no help, but I am going to be in the same boat as you shortly and will be interested in the words of wisdom from the geeks, I mean members here.

{OF}Blong · 02-24-2008, 04:42 PM

you honestly wont notice much of a difference between 1080i and 1080p. unless you plan on buying a blu-ray player anytime in the near future 1080p is actually kinda pointless. As for what kind of tv it all depends on taste. I would love to have a true 1080p panasonic plasma (that would be 1920x1080) but those are wwwaaayyy out of my price range (4 grand right now). As for settings of the tv turn down the brightness and turn up the contrast. There are MANY programs out there that will help you setup your tv. I have the sony 55" sxrd. You should be able to get the 50" for less than your budget and its a pretty good tv.

Sony 60" BRAVIA A Series SXRD Rear Projection HDTV In Black - KDS60A3000 At Abt Electronics

kinda like mine but its not.

dudio · 02-24-2008, 04:53 PM

I know nothing about this technology Clyde, 'cause I'm not in the market,
but I'm thinking at least Soul and I are in for the "Break the New Place In !!1" party .
(I own at billiards and darts, btw)

{OF}Malicious Assault · 02-24-2008, 06:42 PM

Clyde, Go out and look around at the TV stores. Find what you like in the store in your price range, then go online and do a little research. If you like the looks in the store and check out the ratings on line, then you will be happy with what you get. Lots of choices out there, but I like to go as high as my budget will stretch so I dont have to replace it for a long time.

{OF}Flying_Dutchman · 02-24-2008, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by {OF}Malicious Assault

Clyde, Go out and look around at the TV stores. Find what you like in the store in your price range, then go online and do a little research. If you like the looks in the store and check out the ratings on line, then you will be happy with what you get. Lots of choices out there, but I like to go as high as my budget will stretch so I dont have to replace it for a long time.

What he said...

Go to Best Buy and look at them side by side.

Also: decide first whether you want/need a flat screen versus a rear projection/SXRD. The rear projection ones are much cheaper for the same quality but you need to be able to accomodate them.

LoPo · 02-24-2008, 07:36 PM

also what will you be watching? That helps decide what you will buy. Also, don't fall for the flat panel hang on your wall hype - get what looks best to you whether it's DLP based or if it's LCD or Plasma. I have a 55" Sony LCoS and I love it. If you go LCD, check out the Sharp 52" AQUOS widescreen lcd television | LC-52D62U
My buddy got one and it looks phenomenal.

I disagree with Blong, you want to buy 1080P, if your current TV is 12 years old, chances are you will keep this one for awhile. So buy the most current technology because it will get the most mileage, longer.

Smiley · 02-25-2008, 01:31 PM

I agree with LoPo on the 1080p, since you keep TVs for a long time get one with the future wants in mind. BluRay players will be cheaper in a year or two as volume ramps up.

Or look for a used 1080i / 720p projection TV. Mine was 3 years old when I bought it and I got it for 1/3 the original cost. It suits me just fine and I won't feel I lost $ when I upgrade to another used TV in the future

Smiley · 02-25-2008, 01:38 PM

P.S. Here is a nice price with a rebate on a "low end" 1080p LCD-

Newegg.com - Philips 42" 1080p Full HD LCDTV w/ Perfect Pixel HD - 42PFL7422D

ClydeFrog · 02-26-2008, 10:20 PM

Thanks guys! The GF is pretty big into movies so I see a lot of Blu-Ray in my future (after buying the TV). Of course I'm big into Elf porn but those guys are slow to adapt so it will be years before I can get any of that in HD. My local cable company has a limited number of HD channels but some of them bear watching. I shouldn't have to worry to much about sunlight on the screen since there are a lot of mature trees on that side of the house.

It looks like Panasonic has some new stuff coming out with really impressive dynamic contrast ratio. (30,000:1) When I looked at TVs at Circuit City I think the one that really stood out had a very high CR. There was one $2000ish Sony that was just fantastic. Unfortunately it was running off a dedicated video feed so I couldn't really compare to the other units but every frame looked like a very well processed 19xx by 1080 image. After a lot of reading I more or less get 24p vs. 120 Hz but I didn't back then so I don't know what it was running. Egads man, when did buying a TV get harder than building a PC?!?