Samsung 32" DynaFlat 480p/1080i HDTV (TXM-3296HF) - $999.99 at bestbuy..

[GreatBambino]

Samsung 32" DynaFlat 480p/1080i HDTV (TXM-3296HF) - $999.99 is at bestbuy. But at costco i know for a fact they have this same model for 900. So you can pricematch it down to 900 and if you are lucky and have a dumb bestbuy guy use the 10% off as well . 900-90=810 plus tax.

 

[dlaw]

Hmm.....I really want a HDTV......if I have the money.

Is DynaFlat really flat? My 955DF tells me that it is not.....are they any better now?

 

[tji]

That Samsung is a 4:3 TV. If you want an HDTV go for a 16:9 set. All HD programming is 16:9. And it's great for those widescreen anamorphic DVD's.

Best Buy has a 30" 16:9 Samsung TXM-3096WHF for $950.
It's a tube based TV (rather than plasma or projection). At $950, it's a great deal. I have a 34" HDTV, and I am very happy with it.

 

[vidgamefan]

Good deal if you're looking for a smaller, tube-based HD-ready TV.

And because the Samsungs have 16:9 squeeze, you can watch all your HDTV and widescreen programming at full resolution.

Widescreen is undoubtedly the future, but I'd only recommend a widescreen set to people who watch >50% of their programming as DVDs, HDTV, or 16:9 gaming. However, there are a lot (the majority by far) of people who don't have HDTV, who spend maybe <30% watching DVDs, and who own mainly 4:3 videogames (because less than 5% of videogames are widescreen). For those people, getting a 4:3 TV with a 16:9 squeeze mode is a much better decision than getting a widescreen set.

 

[amnesiac]

I've watched maybe 30 minutes of regular TV in the past 6 months. All my TV use is Xbox and DVDs. As soon as DLP sets drop in price I'm springing for one of those.

 

[vidgamefan]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
I've watched maybe 30 minutes of regular TV in the past 6 months. All my TV use is Xbox and DVDs. As soon as DLP sets drop in price I'm springing for one of those.

Samsung DLP RPTVs are already under $3k. They're much better out of the box than CRT-based RPTVs, but the latter still produces better blacks once they're calibrated. DLP RPTVs do jump out at you more because of their increased light output, though.

Toshiba's LCOS RPTV will be out soon. They'll supposedly fix black level issues that you'd find in LCD/DLP RPTVs, while also providing full 1080P resolution.

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: vidgamefan
Good deal if you're looking for a smaller, tube-based HD-ready TV.

And because the Samsungs have 16:9 squeeze, you can watch all your HDTV and widescreen programming at full resolution.

Widescreen is undoubtedly the future, but I'd only recommend a widescreen set to people who watch >50% of their programming as DVDs, HDTV, or 16:9 gaming. However, there are a lot (the majority by far) of people who don't have HDTV, who spend maybe <30% watching DVDs, and who own mainly 4:3 videogames (because less than 5% of videogames are widescreen). For those people, getting a 4:3 TV with a 16:9 squeeze mode is a much better decision than getting a widescreen set.

Exactly. I do 20-30% dvds. 50% TV and the rest Xbox in 4:3.
I have the tsl3294Hf and absolutely love it. Progressive scan DVD's look awesome, the squeeze mode is a simple push of a button on the remote.
XBOX games look great.
Dragons Lair 3D ( I dont have an hdtv receiver) was simply STUNNING, like playing an HD cartoon.

NIce TV, it is last years model tho and you can probably do better on this yeqrs models (TXM series) as the prices have come down. The 3296 is the lower end of the 32" models from last year.

 

[Rhapsody]

For the flatheads here in the audience, can you explain 16:9 squeeze? I understand the difference in the aspect ratios, but does this mean that the 16/9 ratio is squeezed into a 4/3 monitor (so you get top and bottom black bands), or does this mean that the 4/3 ratio is squeezed onto a 16/9 monitor, so you get side black bands?

Also, separately, I was told that side bands on a projection monitor will soon enough damage the color on those bands when used in 16/9 monitor. For this reason, 4/3 programming needs to be stretched to 16/9 (which, in my opinion, looks ridiculous). Anyone know if this is really true?

 

[vidgamefan]

Originally posted by: Rhapsody
For the flatheads here in the audience, can you explain 16:9 squeeze? I understand the difference in the aspect ratios, but does this mean that the 16/9 ratio is squeezed into a 4/3 monitor (so you get top and bottom black bands), or does this mean that the 4/3 ratio is squeezed onto a 16/9 monitor, so you get side black bands?

Also, separately, I was told that side bands on a projection monitor will soon enough damage the color on those bands when used in 16/9 monitor. For this reason, 4/3 programming needs to be stretched to 16/9 (which, in my opinion, looks ridiculous). Anyone know if this is really true?

16:9 squeeze is when the 16:9 ratio is squeezed into a 4:3 monitor. However, "squeeze" is different than just a regular letterboxed picture. The black bands on the top and bottom are "unpainted" areas of the screen in a television that does the "squeeze". That means that the CRT doesn't waste resolution drawing the black bands (TVs that DON'T have "squeeze" have to paint the entire screen, thus wasting resolution drawing the black bands on the top and bottom) and uses the full resolution for the picture area only.

For your second question, you are correct; the side bands will cause what is known as "burn-in". If too much 4:3 material is viewed with the side bands on a widescreen TV, you will eventually notice that the side band areas to be permanently lighter colored than the rest of the screen. There are several widescreen televisions that do a good job of stretching 4:3 material to a 16:9 ratio, so widescreen buyers should always demo this feature among different models before purchasing. Similarly, if you bought a 4:3 television and you watch a lot of 16:9 material, you could see burn-in with the top and bottom bands as well. That's why I said it's important people buy a TV that's suited for the majority of their viewing material.

 

[Rhapsody]

Thanks, vidgamefan!

But, really, isn't this burn-in problem rather a nasty one? I personally don't at all like the stretched images; they look distorted to me. And as much as HDTV appeals (as does the 16:9 for movies), I can't stomach the stretch issue. Isn't there a better way to do this?

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
I've watched maybe 30 minutes of regular TV in the past 6 months. All my TV use is Xbox and DVDs. As soon as DLP sets drop in price I'm springing for one of those.

In fact that's all the more reason to get a reasonably priced HD-ready TV. With a good progressive scan DVD player and HD-compatible X-box games you get nice progressive scan images.

But I do agree with waiting for a reasonably priced DLP TV, personally I want a reasonably priced HD ready TV that has DVI inputs and does 720p natively. It isn't going to happen for a while though. I'm banking on plasma screens getting cheaper also, because they can natively handle 720p and I think some already have DVI inputs.

 

[Staples]

When I buy a HDTV, it will be one that natively supports 720p. 720p has less of a fill rate than 1080i so I expect the first batch of HD Xbox games to be 720p rather than 1080i. 16:9 is nice too but it always adds a few hundred to the price of the TV.

 

[Mac]

I just went through this whole drill, ready to buy a widescreen HDTV and decided to do nothing for right now because of the potential damage to screens/projector guns from extended sessions of wrong format. The technology is out there but unfortunately the broadcast industry will not be deliverying any substantial HDTV for another 2-3 years. There are very few channels, cable, satellite or off-air that are delievered in true HDTV Widescreen which means the majority of your viewing is still going to be 4:3. DLP sets are the only ones which are not vulnerable to burn-in but they still come at a premium compared to rear projection TV's.

Unless your current TV is dead, I would hold off. Even then, unless you only view DVD video, I would still suggest you pick up a cheap conventional TV to hold you over. There are bargains in the 27" and 32" models, such that after 2-3 years it wouldn't matter if you tossed it off the proverbial pier and bought a widescreen HDTV then, which will be better and cheaper than today. Plasma screens may even be viable then...a 42" set mounted on a wall is so cool and smart. A very interesting exercise to go through before buying a RP widescreen, DLP or Conventional is to get the dimensions of the footprint and map it out in your viewing room. The Mitsubishi 55" RP HDTV, which I was leaning toward is 50"W X 26"D X 50"H. That doesn't sound too big on paper until you start to try to figure out where to place it and rearrange furniture.

It's a real chicken-n-egg situation. Given the timing, it doesn't make any more sense to purchase a HD 4:3 set, more than a 16:9 model.

 

[tubs]

Originally posted by: mboy

Exactly. I do 20-30% dvds. 50% TV and the rest Xbox in 4:3.
I have the tsl3294Hf and absolutely love it. Progressive scan DVD's look awesome, the squeeze mode is a simple push of a button on the remote.
XBOX games look great.
Dragons Lair 3D ( I dont have an hdtv receiver) was simply STUNNING, like playing an HD cartoon.

NIce TV, it is last years model tho and you can probably do better on this yeqrs models (TXM series) as the prices have come down. The 3296 is the lower end of the 32" models from last year.

mboy, I got confused by your post. The set we're talking about in this thread is the TXM-3296HF. You state that the TXM models are this year but you then state the 3296 is last year's model. Is the TXM-3296HF this year's or last year's model? Is it relatively low end?

 

[tubs]

Just checked bestbuy.com and the price is $948.99 so a pricematch to $900 is definitely not out of the question. Just need to convince them to take a 10% off coupon. Are there any still valid for tvs?

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: tubs

Originally posted by: mboy

Exactly. I do 20-30% dvds. 50% TV and the rest Xbox in 4:3.
I have the tsl3294Hf and absolutely love it. Progressive scan DVD's look awesome, the squeeze mode is a simple push of a button on the remote.
XBOX games look great.
Dragons Lair 3D ( I dont have an hdtv receiver) was simply STUNNING, like playing an HD cartoon.

NIce TV, it is last years model tho and you can probably do better on this yeqrs models (TXM series) as the prices have come down. The 3296 is the lower end of the 32" models from last year.

mboy, I got confused by your post. The set we're talking about in this thread is the TXM-3296HF. You state that the TXM models are this year but you then state the 3296 is last year's model. Is the TXM-3296HF this year's or last year's model? Is it relatively low end?

Doh, read it worng, my bad. The TSL is last years and the TXM is this years.
It is the lowest end model of the 32" flatscreen HDTv's
You can buy it for $999 at samsungs website, so 900 isnt even a deal now. You should be able to get this TV in the $800 range if u shop hard enough.
Still a nice TV none the less. I love my TSL3295HF thats for sure.


samsung website

 

[xxxgirl]

I have a somewhat unrelated question to run by you. I'd like to take advantage of MSN wallet rewards. The only store in their list that carries HDTVs is Circuit City.

Would that be a good idea to buy 3-4 $500 gift cards to use at Circuit City? ( You can get 20% off, up to $100 per person)
I almost never buy at CC. How are their prices, in general? Do they PM online merchants?

They carry wide screen HDTVs from Hitachi, Panasonic, RCA, Sony, GE and JVC.

Do you think if I buy the gift cards now, I'll get them in time for Xmas sales?
Helpppp