30' HDTV's

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I'm going to be getting one in the next week or so, and I was wondering if any of you had any thoughts on my purchase that I hadn't considered.

First of all, my budget is set at around a grand. I could justify a little more (partly to myself, partly to my wife), maybe $1500, if I was getting major bang for the buck like getting a 40+" set. I also want to get a 16:9 set, not 4:3.

That budget would bring in some lower end projection units, but that leads to issue #2: The location will be above the fireplace area in the corner of my living room. This means that the bottom of the set will be about 4 feet off the ground and the top of a projection set would be about 8 feet high, creating a weird and unacceptable viewing angle.

I'm leaning towards either a Sony or Toshiba 30", but have seen some decent reviews of Phillips and they are a little less expensive. I know someone will tell me to go to that avsforum, but that place is way over my head and I'm really just wondering if there is some obvious choice I'm not thinking of.

Thanks a ton.
 
For the Sony, are you looking at something like the KV-30HS420? (I only link to Sony's site because it's easy to find stuff, I don't recommend buying it there).

I have the 34" XBR version...not exactly the same TV, but close. I've been very happy with the picture, despite the fact that we sit about 12' away from it. Ours also sits a little higher than average, the base is 39" from the floor. No viewing angle issues since it's a tube.

If I was building a system from scratch, I would consider a Toshiba. They were very highly recommended by the sales staff and cost slightly less. All my other components are Sony, so I was trying to stay consistent. No thoughts on the Phillips...
 
i have a 32" "real flat" Philips. i love it - the HD component is great. i don't know details about all the technical features, but for what i use the tv for, it certainly does the job better than any tv i've ever had. cost me around $1100.
 
I've got plenty of room for a 34". Hell, I've got room for 40-50". What I don't have is the $1700 or so for the Sony or Toshiba 34". Thats actually the size I wanted all along, but the prices on those haven't moved in months. I had hoped by the time I was ready to buy one (got my tax refund) the price would come down a little.
 
If you've got the space for more screen, my advice is to wait until there's enough HD content to drive more than 10% of people (just a WAG) to upgrade to HDTVs. My thinking is that's what is really going to drive the price down.

My constraint was fitting in an entertainment armoire...I bought the biggest TV that was possible to squeeze in there. I'll kick myself when the price goes down next year, but not as much as I would if I still had room for something bigger.
 
Don't forget that once you buy your HDTV, you are going to want to buy DVI or progressive scan component video cables to hook it up to your cable/dvd/etc. Those cables run $70-100 each. Details.. details...
 
is going in the living room? you said you have the space for a bigger TV, so you should get it. I am not advocating going into debt or anything, but the greatness of HD is that even on monsterous screens, it still looks great.

In reply to:
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I am looking for the same thing. I went to AVS forum and they are all going nuts about a 32" HDTV at Wal-Mart for $750. Yes, Wal-Mart. It has built-in HDTV Tuner. I think you can get it widescreen or pan-and-scan. Check the forums over there.
 
As to looking for a new TV in the 30-34 inch range, make sure you look at these sets with an analog signal. The Toshiba will do the best with taking 4:3 and filling the screen. The Sony seems to have a problem where the picture arcs across the bottom and is not as sharp as the Toshiba, unless you are going to look at the XBR, but that jumps up in price. The new XBR do have an HD tuner built in to pick up KXAN here localy since it is not on cable and also have what is now known as POD which TW hasn't adopted yet but other cable markets are doing it. POD is an access card that you would get from TW instead of a cable box, it will get all your channels with the excetion of pay perview and on demand, and no DVR it is the best looking set but still has the Arc in the pick which can be taken care of by a tech. But in the sub 1600 I would strongly recommend the Toshiba Cinema Series set, under 34 I would look at the 30XBR at 1397 and or the 30" Toshiba at 897.
 
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