26" LCD TV suggestion?

[Slickone]

I looked into Samsung, but when trying and trying to get information from them, I've checked it off as impossible. And in reading reviews, I've read many others complain of their support as well when their TVs had problems.

I'd like a Toshiba, since they seem like the best bang for the buck, but an Amazon review says there's a 5 or 3 second pause between channel changes if not using a set top box. My parents Toshiba 32" CRT that's almost 4 years old is the same way. Perhaps just something with all Toshiba tuners?

So how about LG? Is the 26LH20 a better TV than the 26LG30? Anyone know what the 20 and 30 at the end signify?
Anyone know how long it takes between channel changes for these?

 

[Slickone]

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[Slickone]

 

[Slickone]

A customer review on Amazon for the LG 26LH20 says there's a sync problem when viewing HD through a Motorola cable box. I read around and couldn't find much about it, just some mentions (such as here) of other various LGs with the problem (some with Comcast Motorola cable boxes, some without), and that firmware LG sent them didn't fix it . But most were from a couple years ago or so, so one would think they've ironed out the problem, until reading this recent Amazon review. I'm not sure if I'll ever have Comcast HD cable, or if they'll have fixed the problem by then, but it's not very encouraging.

BTW, according to an email (after a few attempts) from LG, the 20 and 30 at the end are just a series. They really wouldn't give me any more detail on what that meant, but did say the dynamic contrast ratio (or "dynamic aspect ratio" as their email stated) for the 26LH20 is 30,000:1 and for the 26LG30 is 5,000:1, and the 26LH20 has 5W speakers, vs. 10W for the
26LG30. And as far as changing channels, I was told that "it takes less than a second with the analog tuner and around a second with the digital tuner".

Why do Toshiba's take so long to change channels?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Have you looked into any other brands? Sharp, Sony, Vizio? I recently got a 32" Vizio that, despite a problem that causes the picture to look terrible, is otherwise very nice (Vizio are giving me a replacement TV soon). Switches channels quickly, switches inputs even more quickly, nice remote, bundled with an HDMI cable, good quality construction, better-than-average built-in speakers.

Vizio is basically the best of the "budget" TV brands. Most of the other stuff is total crap by comparison.

 

[Slickone]

Anytime I've read about Vizio, it was about it being similar to Westinghouse, Element, ilo, etc., as far as performance, reliability, and lacking warranty. Though I have read that it's the best of those. The Amazon reviews for the 26" Vizios aren't very good (for the TV and customer service). I won't buy Sony, and I've read Sharp is about the same as the cheapies (seems I've read that on Anandtech, but here's another example.

The Toshiba is only $377 right now. If only not for the channel change issue.