Help. How would you Choose a new TV.

Orik · Jul 10 10 02:57

Okay the time has come to replace the main stay of the entertainment system. Just how do you go about choosing the best TV. The living room is 8 feet wide. 10 feet long and 10 feet floor to ceiling.

I do not watch a lot of TV. what i do, do is i tend to watch a fair amount of streamed content or Downloaded content Ever since I bought My first PC in 1998 The Tv has taken a secondary roll in my household. you could say that the Telly is on mostly for back ground noise when I am working at the computer.

IE reading or posting to the forums or time spent playing one of the many MMORPG'S I would love to use my new TV for playing my computer games. So in some ways I was thinking maybe it is better to buy a large monitor than stick strictly to a TV, but is there really that much of a difference between a TV & a monitor?

If there are differences in a TV and a monitor what are they. What are the best TV's to buy for gaming and Movie watching

You can now buy TV Tuner cards and run the remote to watch tv from your PC on the monitor. So Does one truly need to buy a TV or does one need to buy a monitor. Perhaps a cross of the two. I know one has to have High Definition these days because everything is about the quality and the size of the screen resolution. and lets not forget to mention the MHZ Refresh rates & the Frame rates for gaming.

so many choices.. just how do you narrow down what to look for. Should one buy 3 of the 32 inch monitors for the surreal in-depth 3-D gaming experience what are those monitor/tv set at is it now 240 MHZ or something ? I forget. . or just the one 42 inch High Definition TV for everyday usage and some occasional Video game play. With movie nights on the weekend and MMA nights ON PPV every now and then

Suggestions ? Perhaps you just bought one and have some complaints or raves about specific products. I have used Sony at my primary TV source since I bought my first set 21 years ago. but Sony has had a bad rap for some notorious problems recently with some of their models... Sony used to be the best but are they still the best choice when there is now so many competitors.

Can you really justify spending 300 to 500 dollars more on a product just because of the name brand of that product ?

Where do you start when it comes to a major expenditure such as a large TV. idea Suggestions Comments thoughts Rants or raves.. just what do you have to say..

Russ · Jul 10 10 06:37

I dontknow what to really tell you orik.

Im buying another tv this time home. I have had a plethora of tvs over the last 4 years. And I still have some, moved to other rooms to replace old decrepid tvs, others I have returned due to issues.

The best tvs I have found for bang for the buck with the quality are believe it or not samsung.

All my tvs have built in plug ins for laptop or computer use. They work amazingly well all said and done. Just make sure you confirm and get them to show you on a display model how it does.. some of them are really finicky and too overly complicated for what they need to be. ie some models of Sony.

My big tv for my living room had been for the last few years between 46-60 inch. Widescreen models.

My brother somehow ended up with the tv I bought for the living room when we split our house and I bought him out. Im still trying to figure that one out. But in the interest of it was my brother and blood...

So we currently have an all the bells and whistles PVR (i dont have a clue how to work it) with a 32inch 1080p High Def samsung LCD tv as our living room tv. Thats not going to keep me happy. That tv is my bedroom tv.

Im looking to buy a full surround with wireless (I hate wires running along the walls and along the mouldings of my floors. Especially since I have just installed new mouldings) with a 60 inch widescreen 1080p LCD. Reason is even though plasmas have incredible black backgrounds, they do have a history of issues.. and you can repair LCD's while plasmas you cant repair for under the cost of a new tv. Im not ready to drop the coin for a 3d tv yet until they are more proven. Probably going to buy it from costco due to their warranties.

LG tv's I have had 3 over the past 8 years. All are still going strong! Albeit not in my household. One was a 47.5 rear projection, and the darn thing is still amazing. It has had beer bottles lobbed at it whenever the canucks lost. The clarity however I would call so so.

I dont like sony tvs. DO NOT. Nothing but problems with every single one. Also hate their laptops. Im sticking with my Mac's from now on. That being said, I like toshiba laptops, have had 4. I dont like the tvs however, both of the ones I had I returned due to colour issues around the corners of the screens.

Edit: Darn it! Room service for beer has ended. Its only 2am here in Las Palmas! Bloody best western. Ah well.. fly at 11am.

Russ · Jul 10 10 06:39

I want to add to this, that I am the same as you. I always have my laptop with me when the tv is on. Its only the background fill in for me.

Natasha · Jul 10 10 10:47

Russ wrote:
I dont like sony tvs. DO NOT. Nothing but problems with every single one. Also hate their laptops.

And that's exactly what I have

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I've always kept my laptop in the LR. The TV stays on but mostly for the noise. If I don't hear a constant noise of some sort then I start to notice all the little noises in and around the house which worries me. My puppy also attaches herself to these odd noises then starts barking/growling which does nothing to settle my nerves. The only thing I really watch on TV are movies, UFC fights and football.

Orik · Jul 12 10 09:32

Thank you Russ one of the best responses I have received yet from the 3 Forums I posted it on.

Believe it or not Samsung has consistently been amongst the top ten monitors for the past 10 years. I have had 2 Samsung monitors. The best one was my 950P 19 inch CRT monitor but it was so blessedly big... I will probably go with 2 New 19 Inch LCD for my desk space. I just have not decided if it is going to be name brand like Samsung or go to one of the other ones At 150 to 250 each that is not chump change.

As for replacing the TV I have this 52 Inch RCA Projection one that has been kicking since 2000 I Just have to sacrifice like 3 feet of the living room for it lol Maybe one day i will post a picture of this flaming disaster area so you can see what I mean.

This Idiot box is massive and the picture quality sucks. Let's not even mention I can't find the remote for it. How the hell I lost the remote I will never know. I have to assume I lost it in a box during the move so many moons back before it was stuck in storage.

The problem is with out that RCA Remote I can not access the Guide plus or the PIP function or any of the Video inputs to watch DVD or Hook up the shaw digital TV Box. =( I have not been able to find a universal remote that will do that either.

I must assume it was lost in the move. It also sat in storage for age's I was sure the remote was on top of it but it was not there when I had a strong friend haul this monstrosity out of storage all 220 pounds of it. When my my Sony went on the blink I was pretty sad, that 32 inch gave me 10 good years of quality service

The picture quality for movies and games was spot on with the Sony however it was just horrid to use straight from the PC but excellent if you used Videos such as Divx or DVD disks The VCR input was great too. Unlike this RCA it is okay but the image just was not near as comparable to the Sony. Kinda like comparing Apples and Coconuts.

I to do not know enough about 3-D Tech to decide one way or another on those styles of monitor.

Whatever I do decide to go with I to will probably buy it from Costco or maybe London Drugs because they offer excellent warranty services.

If any one has a tip on finding a good universal remote to replace the one I seem to have lost. let me know. Problem is I will probably find the original remote the day after I purchase a universal... Did that one once before for a old VCR of mine or the TV will blow up the next day or the remote wont work.. Thats just the way my luck is sometimes.

RCA Projection TV Looking for a universal Remote. Compatible to this Model P52921

DDD · Jul 12 10 10:32

Buy the one out now with true yellow

Orik · Jul 12 10 03:04

Hey D, I will take a look at it, but what brand and model should I be Looking at for that true yellow...

I know I am going to buy a couple of monitors, I just have not decided what kinds yet. The TV thing can wait for now.

DDD · Jul 13 10 09:49

well you are limited to brand....ect..as it is so new as this is an item you are not going to buy right away this does not matter right now. If your like me i am waitting untill x-mas or next year to buy it.

Orik · Jul 13 10 01:48

D, I am Still interested to know what brand it is even if I do not plan to buy anything right away. The threads I created on various forums are for research purposes after all. This is one of the reasons why I started the threads on multiple forums because it allows for me to have plenty of time to research all the various brands.

I also want to see where other peoples preferences lay, I mostly would like to hear why they like the ones they are using , what brand & model of monitor / TV they are using and I also would like to know if they are dissatisfied with any brands they are currently using or they may have used previously.

Orik · Jul 16 10 08:49

Watching tv. 52 inches roughly 225 lbs. This monster is half my living room width and height, lol... I swear it is even larger than the advertised 52 inches. Do they measure it corner to corner diagonally or is it measured straight across ?

P.C. · Jul 19 10 10:16

Oh no Russ.

That's what we have now too, a Sony. It was our $3800. LG that crapped out in two years. We finally broke down and bought the Sony last boxing day. I will never buy another LG product again.

There is a HUGE class action suit against them for the very thing that went wrong with ours. They were absolutely useless when I called them for information regarding what was wrong with it. I wasn't even asking them to do anything, I just wanted them to identify the part that caused it to cease working, because even the repair places said it was impossible to know with replacing several things, which would be more costly than buying a new one. They have to know what it is if they are manufacturing the blasted things and it seems that the problem with ours is very very common, judging by the complaints site where I found the info on the class action suit.

Anyways, I hope you have more luck than us.