I've been looking for a nicely-sized TV to place in a bedroom/dorm, something in my meager college-student price range (<= $250) that would be a good long-term investment. I went to Circuit City and Best Buy to scope out some of the choices, and the 20" CRT Sony Trinitron that Circuit City had definitely took the cake for picture quality. It even looked better than a few of the larger-sized knockoff brand LCDs. Surprisingly, it was the last one they had. I guess they must be trying to phase out CRT TVs like Best Buy.
After taking it home and opening it up, I saw a sticker on the screen that talked about about the Analog -> Digital switchover that's going to happen in 2009, which no salesman at either store mentioned. I started doing some research about the switchover, these newfangled digital broadcasts, HDTVs, et cetera, and I think now I'm as up to date as I'm going to get on it all. If nothing else, it's very interesting.
This Trinitron is terrific for a CRT, but would be it be a better idea to return it and go with a more up-to-date HD-ready LCD in my price range instead? Size isn't really important as long as it's sized appropriately for easy viewing in a bedroom/dorm. I'm not sure if can get anything decent in the ~$250 price range, really...how about either of these? I might be able to invest up to $300, but it better be well worth it! That's not a lot, I know, but I don't have a lot to spend.
Westinghouse LTV-19W6
($249.99 - $20 FatWallet coupon - $5 PriceGrabber review rebate = $224.99)
MegaVision MV192T
($199.99 AR)
The Westinghouse is on display at Best Buy. I went out tonight to take a look at it, but I think they were doing something to make it, along with the other smaller LCDs, appear less desirable than the bigger ones. The small ones were hooked up differently than the big ones. In particular, the 19W6 they had on display looked like someone had dialed down the brightness all the way and then cleverly hid (or stole) the remote. I seriously doubt it would normally be that unbelievably dark. I'm going to the other BB tomorrow to see if that's the case.
After taking it home and opening it up, I saw a sticker on the screen that talked about about the Analog -> Digital switchover that's going to happen in 2009, which no salesman at either store mentioned. I started doing some research about the switchover, these newfangled digital broadcasts, HDTVs, et cetera, and I think now I'm as up to date as I'm going to get on it all. If nothing else, it's very interesting.
This Trinitron is terrific for a CRT, but would be it be a better idea to return it and go with a more up-to-date HD-ready LCD in my price range instead? Size isn't really important as long as it's sized appropriately for easy viewing in a bedroom/dorm. I'm not sure if can get anything decent in the ~$250 price range, really...how about either of these? I might be able to invest up to $300, but it better be well worth it! That's not a lot, I know, but I don't have a lot to spend.
Westinghouse LTV-19W6
($249.99 - $20 FatWallet coupon - $5 PriceGrabber review rebate = $224.99)
MegaVision MV192T
($199.99 AR)
The Westinghouse is on display at Best Buy. I went out tonight to take a look at it, but I think they were doing something to make it, along with the other smaller LCDs, appear less desirable than the bigger ones. The small ones were hooked up differently than the big ones. In particular, the 19W6 they had on display looked like someone had dialed down the brightness all the way and then cleverly hid (or stole) the remote. I seriously doubt it would normally be that unbelievably dark. I'm going to the other BB tomorrow to see if that's the case.
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