Akai 30" Widescreen Flat TV w/Component Inputs $398.63 @ Sam's

[kimchee411]

Price has dropped $100. 30" 16x9 Flatscreen for all you DVD freaks out there. Non-HDTV, but what the hell can you expect for under $400? Go B&M and save on shipping. Now if somebody can find a free guest membership...

Link

 

[SuperShaz]

Its 30 inches across, but how tall is it? I'm just wondering about watching normal TV. Would it be smaller than my 4:3 27" TV or bigger?

- SuperShaz

 

[onza]

21" Diagonal used the pythagrium therom lol, got like 36-40 inches tall
===

errr n/m that makes no sense.

 

[anorexicwallet]

do da math. it involves division and multiplication and stuff.

 

[dukoolio]

c'mon the math isn't that hard

16x9 is the ratio of the sides, right?

so the diagonal (c) is given by:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2
c^2 = 16^2 + 9^2 = 337
c = 18.36

so take any widescreen measurement like 30", divide it by 18.36 and that will give you the critical component. (30/18.36=1.63)

you just take that 1.63 and multiply it by 16 for the width or 9 for the height.
w: 1.63 x 16 = 26.08
h: 1.63 x 9 = 14.67

for a 27" 4:3 tv, we have a c of 5, so a component of 27/5 = 5.4.
w: 5.4 x 4 = 21.6
h: 5.4 x 3 = 16.2

so your tube is going to be about 4.5 inches wider and 1.5 inches shorter. of course, you have to take into account the borders and such, but there's your basic answer.

Originally posted by: SuperShaz
Its 30 inches across, but how tall is it? I'm just wondering about watching normal TV. Would it be smaller than my 4:3 27" TV or bigger?

- SuperShaz

 

[Shippy]

I got one of these a few months ago (for $550) and love it.

 

[GnatGoSplat]

Originally posted by: SuperShaz
Its 30 inches across, but how tall is it? I'm just wondering about watching normal TV. Would it be smaller than my 4:3 27" TV or bigger?

- SuperShaz

The 4:3 image will be close to a 24".
Click here if you hate math

 

[NauTiKa128]

Who's Edward Smith in Cincinnati? Heh..

 

[lzpoof]

Couple of points:

1) Any nonHDTV widescreen that distorts a 4:# signal to fit its 16:9 screen is not worth buying at any price.

2) If you are buying a TV for strictly 16:9 mode such as a video store that runs DVS all the time then the wide is generally better. Since this is not HDTV and we do not in general run DVDs more than 50% of the time in our homes (with exceptions) then it becomes a matter of personal preference and not logic.

3) a good amount of dvds don't even display in 16:9 anyways... they do 2.35:1 (is that right number) so you'll still have black bars with a widescreen.

4) as the table below shows... a 32" 4:3 basically gives you the same picture on a 16:9 source as a 30" widescreen. Only advantage is the flatscreen in some cases and honestly if you look at them in stores, a lot of flatscreen tvs have geometry errors such as bowing or curvature near edges so be careful

5) generally speaking, you can knock a few inches off a 4:# model to see what it is like in 16:9 mode, but if you go from a 16:9 model with a 4:3 signal you knock off somewhere around 5 inches (since tvs are wder than they are tall) so you really pay a penatly on a 4:3 source with a widescreen tv.


Here's a table for ya:

WIDE (16:9) MODELS

16:9 source 4:3 source
Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
40" Wide 40.00 34.86 19.61 32.68 26.14 19.61

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
36" Wide 36.00 31.37 17.65 29.41 23.53 17.65

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
32" Wide 32.00 27.89 15.69 26.14 20.91 15.69

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
30"Wide 30.00 26.14 14.71 24.51 19.61 14.71


4:3 MODELS

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
36" 4:3 33.04 28.80 16.20 36.00 28.80 21.60

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
32" 4:3 29.37 25.60 14.40 32.00 25.60 19.20

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
27" 4:3 24.78 21.60 12.15 27.00 21.60 16.20

Model diag Width Height Diag Width Height
25" 4:3 22.95 20.00 11.25 25.00 20.00 15.00

 

[TubStain]

I have this TV, bought it some months ago. I was on Netflix so I defintiely appreciated the widescreen. All I'll say is that this is one HEAVY monster. But is a nice TV overall for the price.

If you are into DVD's and want a budget widescreen, this is tops.

 

[rile0161]

How do games look on this thing?

 

[loup garou]

To those that own this set:

What modes can you use for 4:3 sources (stretch, zoom, etc)? How do they look? Is this another Samsung rebadge?

 

[splice]

wait a sec. how can it be 21" diag. (sams spec) and 30" wide.... that's physically impossible.

 

[kimchee411]

Originally posted by: splice
wait a sec. how can it be 21" diag. (sams spec) and 30" wide.... that's physically impossible.

It's 30" diagonal. The specs are f-ed up.

 

[ICR5]

not HDTV ready tho..

 

[kimchee411]

Originally posted by: ICR5
not HDTV ready tho..

<$400!!!

If you want the same thing in HDTV form you'll have to drop at least double...

 

[SuperShaz]

Sweet. I asked other people to do my math for me and I got 10+ replies. You are all suckers.

I mean... thanks

 

[jmunjr]

Umm, I did this math/geometry in 7th grade.. Do most people really not know how to do it??

-John M

 

[Shippy]

Videogames look great as well. Xbox & PS2 both have widescreen modes.

The only thing I don't like about this tv is that it doesn't have a zoom mode. My old sony 32" widescreen tv had 3 modes. 16x9 mode (normal 4x3 viewing is strechted, people look a little fat), 4x3 (with bars on the sides) and zoom mode (it would take a 4x3 source and zoom in on it with no bars. The best example is a cheap dvd is letterboxed but 4x3 (bars on the top and bottom). It would remove the bars. Also works great for "widescreen" tv shows like 24 & Farscape)

The Akai only has 16x9 mode, 4x3 mode & a pseudo mode where 4x3 tv is stretched to fit the 16x9 screen. The center is normal size & the L & R edges are stretched. Needless to say I only use it in 16x9 mode.