Are any of the HDTV's at Wal-Mart any good?

[jcovercash]

I know some of you will say that Wal-mart TV's are crap, and thats ok... but please keep your crapping comments to yourself as I want unbiased facts/help here.

I am new to the "WORLD" of HDTV as you would say so I need some help here...

I want to spend around $1000 on a TV, but I will spend more. I dont want to go about $1500 However. The main reason I want to purchase a TV from Wal-Mart is that I can receive a 10% discount, so that saves me taxes plus a little extra, and its local so no delivery charges.

I have no idea what features to look for but I do know that I want

HDTV
Widescreen
40+ Inches

It can be an entry level TV, I know thats all I am going to get in this price range, but for my budget and current TV I am sure it will be a Nice one that I get.

The main uses for the TV will be Watching DVD's and Playing XBOX (I would like one with inputs that will let me use componet(Isnt this the best input method?), if at all possible). I probally will not watch / subscribe to any additional HDTV channels other than the basic ones that come with my digital cable package, I just want the feature there for the future.

I also want a TV that has semi-decent sound, but will later on allow a surround sound system.


I don't need a feature packed one, I just want one with GOOD image quality and the NEEDED features.

Here are the main ones I see that are in the price range / let me know if these are decent / crap.....
RCA 52-inch HDTV Widescreen Monitor D52W19
RCA 40-inch Widescreen HDTV Monitor D40W20
Panasonic 47-inch Widescreen HDTV Monitor PT-47WXC43


Also if there is somewhere like Circuit City / Best Buy / Etc... that I can pick up a TV like I want for around the same price, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I am open to any suggestions.


Thank you,
Josh

 

[Saulbadguy]

I have a panny very similar to that. Its nice.

 

[StageLeft]

That RCA is _ok_ becuase it's so cheap, but you get what you pay for. Next to some better brands in sears I could see why it was a good $300 cheaper than them. Ask yourself how long you plan on keeping the TV, and if saving $300 is really worth it. Bitterly I'll add that my friend bought that RCA for $999 at thanksgiving. Thanks for freaking telling me :| then I have another friend who got, at thanksgiving, a $1700 panasonic HDTV for $1300 incl. a $400 surround system (EBAY that thing). Grr. This was actually after thanksgiving during the post-black friday sales. I'm so embittered by it that I now refuse to pay retail until HDTVs are offering similar deals as they did then.

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
I have a panny very similar to that. Its nice.

LOL, I wasent sure what you meant at first ....

So if you had to make the choice again would you go with it again, or change it? Are their any things you don't like about this TV? What's different about yours and this one.

BTW: do any of these TV's have 3:2 Film Correction? Is that a big deal? IDK if I have ever seen a TV with or without it.

Josh

 

[Amorphus]

Thing is though, there is no "entry-level" TV when it comes to image quality (IQ) - it's just going to be a question of how many extra features it has. If you want a good, reliable, good looking TV, then you're going to pay for it. The price differences occur in the steps from one size to the next more often than from one screen to the next. I'm not up to date on pricing, but I don't believe $1k can get you a TV bigger than measurements in the 30s (IIRC).

as for sound - for surround sound, you'll need a separate reciever, anyways. don't bother with worrying about that.

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
That RCA is _ok_ becuase it's so cheap, but you get what you pay for. Next to some better brands in sears I could see why it was a good $300 cheaper than them. Ask yourself how long you plan on keeping the TV, and if saving $300 is really worth it. Bitterly I'll add that my friend bought that RCA for $999 at thanksgiving. Thanks for freaking telling me :| then I have another friend who got, at thanksgiving, a $1700 panasonic HDTV for $1300 incl. a $400 surround system (EBAY that thing). Grr. This was actually after thanksgiving during the post-black friday sales. I'm so embittered by it that I now refuse to pay retail until HDTVs are offering similar deals as they did then.

Well say Im going from a TV inch Sony Trinitron to that RCA. Will I be happy with the upgrade you think? Im not hard to please but if I spend 2k on a TV I will be critical about everything, but for a little over 1k I think I will be able to overlook it. All this coming from a guy who's family has never had a bigscreen TV much less HDTV TV...

BTW how much better will my TV channels be than the ones shown at walmart? Is their reception pretty crappy compared to mine since they are running one input to many tvs?

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: Amorphus
Thing is though, there is no "entry-level" TV when it comes to image quality (IQ) - it's just going to be a question of how many extra features it has. If you want a good, reliable, good looking TV, then you're going to pay for it. The price differences occur in the steps from one size to the next more often than from one screen to the next. I'm not up to date on pricing, but I don't believe $1k can get you a TV bigger than measurements in the 30s (IIRC).

as for sound - for surround sound, you'll need a separate reciever, anyways. don't bother with worrying about that.

Well for around 1200-1300 u can get 45-57 inches.
I was just stating a base range to work with.

Josh

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: AMDman12GHz

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
I have a panny very similar to that. Its nice.

LOL, I wasent sure what you meant at first ....

So if you had to make the choice again would you go with it again, or change it? Are their any things you don't like about this TV? What's different about yours and this one.

BTW: do any of these TV's have 3:2 Film Correction? Is that a big deal? IDK if I have ever seen a TV with or without it.

Josh

I like it. I've had it for 3 years. I Just got HD service for it a few months ago, and its beautiful. I dont know the differences between mine and this one. I wouldn't get an RCA...

 

[StageLeft]

Their quality probably won't be as good. I've never had a bigscreen either. I almost bought one in January, but I just couldn't quite come to terms with spending that much money when I considered a few drawbacks such as 1) Viewing angle (sucks my gonads on most of these tvs. You go off center and you can't even tell if it's turned on), 2) non-HDTV quality: If you're watching regular cable/satellite, it can be somewhat shocking in how pixelated or artifacty it looks. I went to Tweeter - which has great setups - and I specifically asked to see a non HDTV image through their satellite setup. It was quite ghastly, I must say.

Bestbuy is one store, and also sears, that has your RCA tv, so you can check them and see how their setups are with it, then you could buy it at wallymart.

 

[vtqanh]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Their quality probably won't be as good. I've never had a bigscreen either. I almost bought one in January, but I just couldn't quite come to terms with spending that much money when I considered a few drawbacks such as 1) Viewing angle (sucks my gonads on most of these tvs. You go off center and you can't even tell if it's turned on), 2) non-HDTV quality: If you're watching regular cable/satellite, it can be somewhat shocking in how pixelated or artifacty it looks. I went to Tweeter - which has great setups - and I specifically asked to see a non HDTV image through their satellite setup. It was quite ghastly, I must say.

Bestbuy is one store, and also sears, that has your RCA tv, so you can check them and see how their setups are with it, then you could buy it at wallymart.

to address your #1: that's why i prefer tube-HDTV over the projection one. Check out the Sony 40 inch XBR (I believe 40-inch is the largest tube HDTV as of now). I have never seen anything with picture quality that comes even close!
The major drawback is that it's too heavy.

 

[poopaskoopa]

I'd never buy an RCA, especially in my area. Their service sucks. My buddy bought a 53 or 57-inch HDTV, it broke last October, it's still broke(!) and they've attempted to fix it just once so far. They took forever to get the parts to attempt a repair, and when it was repaired/returned, the tech who returned the TV only briefly turned it on for 10 seconds and he ran off(and it died again moments later, after he left). He got it from CC, and I have no idea if these services are outsourced(from the manufacturer), but I'd not feel comfortable buying an RCA as long as I live in this area.

 

[StageLeft]

The major drawback is that it's too heavy.

And too damn expensive! I wanted a 50"+ and wasn't willing to pay more than $1500. I guess you have to sacrifice something somewhere

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Their quality probably won't be as good. I've never had a bigscreen either. I almost bought one in January, but I just couldn't quite come to terms with spending that much money when I considered a few drawbacks such as 1) Viewing angle (sucks my gonads on most of these tvs. You go off center and you can't even tell if it's turned on), 2) non-HDTV quality: If you're watching regular cable/satellite, it can be somewhat shocking in how pixelated or artifacty it looks. I went to Tweeter - which has great setups - and I specifically asked to see a non HDTV image through their satellite setup. It was quite ghastly, I must say.

Bestbuy is one store, and also sears, that has your RCA tv, so you can check them and see how their setups are with it, then you could buy it at wallymart.

Ok Ill keep that in mind, thanks for your input, helpful as always.

I know the non-HD input will not be as good, but its going to be similar on most big screen HDTV, because they are designed for HD input.
As far as viewing angle goes, my room isnt really that wide, so It can''t be viewed from a large enough angle to affect it, I checked the viewing angle the other day in the store.

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: vtqanh

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Their quality probably won't be as good. I've never had a bigscreen either. I almost bought one in January, but I just couldn't quite come to terms with spending that much money when I considered a few drawbacks such as 1) Viewing angle (sucks my gonads on most of these tvs. You go off center and you can't even tell if it's turned on), 2) non-HDTV quality: If you're watching regular cable/satellite, it can be somewhat shocking in how pixelated or artifacty it looks. I went to Tweeter - which has great setups - and I specifically asked to see a non HDTV image through their satellite setup. It was quite ghastly, I must say.

Bestbuy is one store, and also sears, that has your RCA tv, so you can check them and see how their setups are with it, then you could buy it at wallymart.

to address your #1: that's why i prefer tube-HDTV over the projection one. Check out the Sony 40 inch XBR (I believe 40-inch is the largest tube HDTV as of now). I have never seen anything with picture quality that comes even close!
The major drawback is that it's too heavy.

Umm yea the XBR is like say 1k over my max budget, Although im not doubting its niceness, but for what I want I think the projection sets will work good enough, I hope

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: vtqanh

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Their quality probably won't be as good. I've never had a bigscreen either. I almost bought one in January, but I just couldn't quite come to terms with spending that much money when I considered a few drawbacks such as 1) Viewing angle (sucks my gonads on most of these tvs. You go off center and you can't even tell if it's turned on), 2) non-HDTV quality: If you're watching regular cable/satellite, it can be somewhat shocking in how pixelated or artifacty it looks. I went to Tweeter - which has great setups - and I specifically asked to see a non HDTV image through their satellite setup. It was quite ghastly, I must say.

Bestbuy is one store, and also sears, that has your RCA tv, so you can check them and see how their setups are with it, then you could buy it at wallymart.

to address your #1: that's why i prefer tube-HDTV over the projection one. Check out the Sony 40 inch XBR (I believe 40-inch is the largest tube HDTV as of now). I have never seen anything with picture quality that comes even close!
The major drawback is that it's too heavy.

Hunh???

RPTV HDTVs kick tube-HDTVs up and down the sales floor!

Unless you go to front CRT projection, there is no better display.

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: vtqanh

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Their quality probably won't be as good. I've never had a bigscreen either. I almost bought one in January, but I just couldn't quite come to terms with spending that much money when I considered a few drawbacks such as 1) Viewing angle (sucks my gonads on most of these tvs. You go off center and you can't even tell if it's turned on), 2) non-HDTV quality: If you're watching regular cable/satellite, it can be somewhat shocking in how pixelated or artifacty it looks. I went to Tweeter - which has great setups - and I specifically asked to see a non HDTV image through their satellite setup. It was quite ghastly, I must say.

Bestbuy is one store, and also sears, that has your RCA tv, so you can check them and see how their setups are with it, then you could buy it at wallymart.

to address your #1: that's why i prefer tube-HDTV over the projection one. Check out the Sony 40 inch XBR (I believe 40-inch is the largest tube HDTV as of now). I have never seen anything with picture quality that comes even close!
The major drawback is that it's too heavy.

Hunh???

RPTV HDTVs kick tube-HDTVs up and down the sales floor!

Unless you go to front CRT projection, there is no better display.

I thought that it was the other way around??? ???


Well anyway, so to sum it up, Does anyone recomend the RCA ones? My parents had an RCA tube TV for 25 years with No problems. So it seems like their quality should still be up to par. And the Panasonic should be a decent TV though?

Josh

 

[conjur]

Check out http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb or http://www.hometheaterspot.com and ask around. You'll get a resounding nod toward projection HDTV displays.

And, if you're set on buying from WalMart, I'd go the Panasonic route.

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: conjur
Check out http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb or http://www.hometheaterspot.com and ask around. You'll get a resounding nod toward projection HDTV displays.

And, if you're set on buying from WalMart, I'd go the Panasonic route.

Yea I was just reading the specs on the TV's and noticed the Panasonic TV has 3:2 pulldown, 1080i or 480P display capability, (The RCA's don't that I noticed)

BTW does anyone know if this Panasonic has Componet Input? I noticed the RCA did....... Would I notice a big difference playing the Xbox through Componet Cables as opposed to S-Video?

Thanks,
Josh

 

If it's an HDTV it'll have component inputs. How many though, is an important feature.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: AMDman12GHz

Originally posted by: conjur
Check out http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb or http://www.hometheaterspot.com and ask around. You'll get a resounding nod toward projection HDTV displays.

And, if you're set on buying from WalMart, I'd go the Panasonic route.

Yea I was just reading the specs on the TV's and noticed the Panasonic TV has 3:2 pulldown, 1080i or 480P display capability, (The RCA's don't that I noticed)

BTW does anyone know if this Panasonic has Componet Input? I noticed the RCA did....... Would I notice a big difference playing the Xbox through Componet Cables as opposed to S-Video?

Thanks,
Josh

Yeah...you'll have component inputs

I think there's a detailed description on the WalMart site. If not, check out Panasonic's site.

And, XBOX on component with 480p, 720p or 1080i games will blow the pants off S-Video (a 480i input)

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: jumpr
If it's an HDTV it'll have component inputs. How many though, is an important feature.

Well the reason I ask is the model # from Wal-Marts site is PT-47WXC43. However that is not a valid # on panasonics site. They have the PT-47WX49S & PT-47WX53. Can somone find me a Link to specs on the PT-47WXC43, Thanks.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[amdskip]

There is a guy here that has the same panasonic tv in his 10x15 dorm room and its pretty nice for the price. RCA's are about the #1 returned tv returned at walmart and thats just an opinion I've drawn from working there.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: AMDman12GHz

Originally posted by: jumpr
If it's an HDTV it'll have component inputs. How many though, is an important feature.

Well the reason I ask is the model # from Wal-Marts site is PT-47WXC43. However that is not a valid # on panasonics site. They have the PT-47WX49S & PT-47WX53. Can somone find me a Link to specs on the PT-47WXC43, Thanks.

Thanks,
Josh

Could be just a difference between their model #s destined for discount stores vs. higher-end A/V stores.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: AMDman12GHz

Originally posted by: jumpr
If it's an HDTV it'll have component inputs. How many though, is an important feature.

Well the reason I ask is the model # from Wal-Marts site is PT-47WXC43. However that is not a valid # on panasonics site. They have the PT-47WX49S & PT-47WX53. Can somone find me a Link to specs on the PT-47WXC43, Thanks.

Thanks,
Josh

my bologna has a first name...its Meijer

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: AMDman12GHz

Originally posted by: jumpr
If it's an HDTV it'll have component inputs. How many though, is an important feature.

Well the reason I ask is the model # from Wal-Marts site is PT-47WXC43. However that is not a valid # on panasonics site. They have the PT-47WX49S & PT-47WX53. Can somone find me a Link to specs on the PT-47WXC43, Thanks.

Thanks,
Josh

Could be just a difference between their model #s destined for discount stores vs. higher-end A/V stores.

Ohh, so like one of them things where walmart has it and sells it for 1000, but best buy has the same thing for 1500 with just 2 numbers changed .....


BTW, a widescreen TV has a 16:9 ratio right? well on panasonics site there is a widescreen tv that does not have a 16:9 ratio, what does this mean?

If I go to walmart and tell them I want to watch a regular dvd on the TV, should they be able to do this before I buy it? Or possible play a video game, I know they have an Open PS2 at my local walmart.

Thanks,
Josh