Does a decent 19"'ish LCD TV exist for around $300

[vi edit]

I've got a little 14" flat panel CRT that isn't digital ready stuck in the corner of my kitchen. I could just slap a digital converter box on there for $50 and be done with it but I'd like to free up the real estate and power is already at a premium so another plug in device isn't desired.

There's an endless plethora of no name trash out there that are basically 19" junky PC monitors with a tuner and a chintzy little remote tacked on and 16:10 aspect ratios. They look horrible, sound horrible, and are essentially disposable after 6 months of use.

Are there any decent values out there in the $300 range worth considering?

I did find this deal at Circuit City for a 22" LCD, I can get it for about $275 + tax after an 8% AAA discount. It's 16:9 and by a halfway decent brand.

There's also the Insignia house brand by Best Buy. They have a 19" for $230 this week and a 22" for around $280.

Anyone bought in this class and happy with their purchase?

 

[spidey07]

I picked up a 22 inch samsung for under 300 at Costco. Nice little tv. Use it to watch two games or take it outside on the deck.

 

[vi edit]

Sam's and Costco are pretty sparse in this class. Costco has three listed on their site, none of which I'd actually consider. Sam's has a few, but nothing available in my area.

What really irks me about the whole deal is that you are only a hundred bucks or so away from legitmate 26" or larger screens. The premiums for 19"-22" are pretty lame.

 

[KeithP]

My parents recently bought a 26" Insignia from Best Buy. If I recall correctly, they paid $349 but it came with a $50 gift card. They have had it for several weeks now and are extremely happy with it. They watch mostly cable (standard/high def) and DVDs.

-KeithP

 

[0roo0roo]

yea thats the thing, its not really worth it for them to make a nicer tiny tv. as tvs get smaller the price per inch rises by quite a bit. so making it worse by making a premium model that costs as much as a larger one is not attractive for companies.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I don't know about the US, but in Canada there is very little overlap between Costco's online and instore offerings; it may still be worth a look.

 

[vi edit]

I bought the LG linked above, site unseen. It wasn't a floor stocked model.

I wish it had been...I never would have bought it.

I'm probably going to take it back. Picture quality is horrible, and the sound is even worse. The basic digital feed to an SD-CRT is leaps and bounds better than the display on these 720p LCD's. And don't even get me started on the sound. It's like they took two earbuds from an MP3 player and stuck them on the front.

This is why I skipped all previous generations of LCD TV's. My 650 series 46" Samsung isn't making my taste for high quality panels any better. I know I'm not going to get anything that good...but jeez...I wasn't expecting them to be this bad.

 

[evident]

verizon gave me a free magnavox 19" LCD tv for signing up with fios. it sucks- viewing angles are horrible, def. not a good kitchen tv where people have to watch it from all over the room.

 

[vi edit]

I'm probably just going to suck it up and deal with a converter box. The sound and picture from the old 14" CRT is still better than the grainy, washed out rubbish of a picture and tin can acoustics these things have.

 

[vi edit]

Hopefully third time is a charm.

I ordered a Sony Bravia after looking at one in a store.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webap...Id=8198552921665401954

Got it for $300, no shipping, no tax.

Sound is leaps and bounds better than anything else I've found in this class, picture is probably second only to the really high end Samsungs, and it's built like a freaking tank.

Should hopefully be in the end of this week/next week.