LCD tv buying help

[QueBert]

GF birthday coming up in a few weeks, want to get her an LCD, was almost sold on the Westinghouse, but a lot of the reviews commented on how the picture quality was pretty poor when using standard cable and not HD. She doesn't have HD, and isn't looking to do any upgrade to her cable package. I don't want to break the bank, size wise 27" possibly a 32". Will be getting her a upconverting DVD player to go along with it. The main thing I'm looking for is good picture quality using coax.

And for anyone in the San Diego area, how much more a month does Cox charge for HD over the standard? I might be able to get her to reconsider if it's not too much more money, then I could get her the Westinghouse.

 

[LanceM]

First, keep in mind that the Westy does not come with a tuner, hence its great price for an awesome HD picture. Once you start adding tuners to the LCD (as in, being manufactured with one) the price rises pretty fast.

I would not suggest any LCD if she isn't determined to spend at least 75% of her time watching DVDs. Of course, the smaller you go, the less noticeable the "poor" picture on SD. I have a 37" Westinghouse, and standard channels are obviously much fuzzier than a flat CRT, but it's not unwatchable.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: LanceM
First, keep in mind that the Westy does not come with a tuner, hence its great price for an awesome HD picture. Once you start adding tuners to the LCD (as in, being manufactured with one) the price rises pretty fast.

I would not suggest any LCD if she isn't determined to spend at least 75% of her time watching DVDs. Of course, the smaller you go, the less noticeable the "poor" picture on SD. I have a 37" Westinghouse, and standard channels are obviously much fuzzier than a flat CRT, but it's not unwatchable.

Good point you brought up, here's the problem, her room doesn't have much space, right now she has an ooooold Sony, like 23 incher on top a dresser. I haven't done a measurment for space, and I know SlimCRT's are a lot smaller, but I don't know if she could even fit a 27" SlimCRT up there. Also since she watches mostly TV, widescreen isn't imporant, so going with a CRT would be fine, if it could fit. a 27" 4:3 SlimCRT would be much bigger picture wise over her 23" and I'm sure she'd love it, not to mention it'd be much cheaper and leave me more cash to buy her something else.

27" SlimCRT + Upscale DVD player + surround speakers = probably as cheap as a LCD by itself. Excellent idea man!

 

[lokiju]

The poor quality is true for most all HD TV's using Standard cable, unless it's digital like DirecTV for the regular non-HD channels, it's going to look like crap IMO.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: lokiju
The poor quality is true for most all HD TV's using Standard cable, unless it's digital like DirecTV for the regular non-HD channels, it's going to look like crap IMO.

the more I read (reading now...) the more I'm starting to understand this. She isn't a tv or movie fanatic, just watches a few shows on the regular. I'm leaning towards a SlimFit set, 4:3 would be better for most television any ways.

 

[LanceM]

How far away is her couch/chair/bed/whatever from the TV?

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: LanceM
How far away is her couch/chair/bed/whatever from the TV?

her bed, humm....4 feet? well that's the edge of the bed, she does sleep on the side closest to the TV. Dresser is old, pretty standard sized. Sits pretty high, I believe it has 5 drawers. It should hold the weight of the SlimCRT (90'ish pounds) my idea was to get an LCD and mount it on the wall, but the image over cable thing I'm reading about doesn't appeal to me. don't know any other options. But I'm open to suggestions.


*EDIT* seems the only slimCRT I can find, the Samsung gets pretty bad ratings when it comes to picture quality over a non HD signal, I give up

*edit* list I came up with

TV - Samsung SlimFit 27" Flat-Tube Standard-Definition Digital TV - Model: TX-S2783
rest of the CRT's are too deep and 16:9, don't think 16:9 on a 27" gives you that big looking of a picture.

Remote - Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote

DVD player -Samsung Progressive-Scan DVD Player with HD Upconversion Model: DVD-HD860


a decent setup? This still is cheaper then the LCD I was looking at.