TV! (Preferably LCD)

[Kiro]

Need some suggestion on an LCD TV, any size/price (nothing retarded like 60 inches), doesn't matter as long as I can 'convert' it into a monitor for my PC and all that super fun happy jazz. I've been looking on Dell's websites for TVs, and going to BestBuy to poke around before the holiday rapefest. So far all I really see myself are..

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 2882141819

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 4767919423

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... u=A1226048


But from what I've been told those prices are kinda iffy, so.. asking people who have had to go and shop for this stuff before and have a decent TV that hasn't died on them. Maybe a little monitor fun fun guidance 'kaythx?

Anyway, yeah. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[viperlasson]

Way too freakin' expensive. Wait until you see a deal and grab it, I'd wait it out. Black Friday is coming up soon, lurk on this website for deals. I found out a great deal from there for my HDTV. Best Buy had a package deal with the 360 + halo 3 + an HDTV for ~$1100. Which turned out that I bought my 50" flat screen for only $660, awesome deal. I am sure they will have a huge thread about Black Friday and upcoming deals. All of them are fanatics about TV's :D

[Snowknight26]

42" Westinghouse 1080p LCD TV for something like $899 at Best Buy. Colors are sharp, blacks are black, looks superb.

[Vertabreaker]

If $$$ isn't an issue, get an Aquos. You won't be sorry.

[Isiolia]

I had a Samsung LNT4065F delivered yesterday, 40" 1080P panel, and it makes a stunning computer monitor (has a VGA port and several HDMI, which you can use an adapter to hook DVI into). Even has settings for HTPC use. At 1920x1080, it's higher resolution than any computer LCD I use on a regular basis (17" Dell at home, 20" Apple at work).

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LNT4065F- ... 141&sr=1-1

~$1500 despite what list prices say, at least mail order. Best Buy's website was overpriced on 'em though. You might want to look on Amazon/Onecall or something rather than there.

Personally I'm quite pleased with it, after having kept my eye on the market for a year or so prior to finally buying one. There are people who have had problems with the series, but frankly, the same goes for basically anything out there. Great resource for this would of course be http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/
One nice thing though is that at this point in time, most of the TVs on the market are revised models. My TV came with the latest board revision and all, so has a much lower chance of problems than the same model earlier in the year. Still, budget an extended warranty...from everything I've seen, HDTVs in general tend to make more use of them than a lot of other devices.

[Boyiee]

If $$$ isn't an issue, get an Aquos. You won't be sorry.

Agreed.

However, if you are also going to be using it as a monitor, the Dell 30inch models are fucking win and a half. Look at that resolution baby. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

But the sharp aquos is my number 1 choice, I've been waiting to buy the 32inch (or larger) model for a while, I just have no reason to yet.

[sekaran]

Definitely go 1080P if you wanna use it as a PC monitor.. I think thats the one thing I regret with my LCD TV purchase. I went 720P and he resolution just isn't good for general PC use. I mostly just toss videos to it.

[Epical]

Odd this topic comes up. I'm in the market for the a TV myself so I can use it as a second monitor and take my 360 and put it up here.

Thinking about this one. Now, I get staff pricing (cost+10%), so the prices you see aren't what I'll be paying. For the TV itself, I have some requirements: 3 HDMI ports (360, future PS3, DVI->HDMI from PC (or in the future HDMI straight from my video card)), LCD, and has 1080p. I don't want smaller than 40" and bigger than 42".

I got a few more weeks so I can make some money, but I don't think we'll be getting a drastically different shipment of TVs, so what is on that site is what I have to choose from.

[Evelyn]

if you're gonna use it for a computer monitor, you're better off getting an actual computer monitor with component hookups than a tv with a dvi or vga in.

Reason being, with any given TV, flat screen or no, the pixels on the screen are spaced farther apart and the brightness is increased dramatically to facilitate viewing from a distance. So on a 32 inch TV you may get 1366x786 res. I get a 1920x1200 on my 24 inch computer monitor. Most 30 inch monitors you'll get around 2560x1600. Much much more room to work in.

[Kriz]

And who, aside from Apple and Dell, make good 30 inch computer monitors?

It'd be sweet to get one with component in, hell maybe picture in picture (a really neat thing to have on a computer monitor). If they supported that HDCP thing so they can be hooked up to HD players I imagine that'd be great too.

But, far as I can tell, it's Apple or Dell. Anyone else in the market?

[Evelyn]

to be honest, I'm not sure. I've got a Dell 2407 and I love it, but I don't use it for regular TV, just console games and computer. My recommendation would be to check out http://www.maximumpc.com, they should have all the newer monitors up to be reviewed.

EDIT: The Gateway XHD3000 looks pretty damn good, a bit pricey though.

[Isiolia]

Might also depend on the viewing distance though. I use a PC on my TV, but it's not the main machine that I play FFXI on, browse the web, etc. If you're looking to put a screen on your desk, then a 40" panel designed to be viewed from half a room away is not going to look as great when it's right up in your face, and vice versa.

Reason being, with any given TV, flat screen or no, the pixels on the screen are spaced farther apart and the brightness is increased dramatically to facilitate viewing from a distance. So on a 32 inch TV you may get 1366x786 res. I get a 1920x1200 on my 24 inch computer monitor. Most 30 inch monitors you'll get around 2560x1600. Much much more room to work in.

A 1080p set, again, is 1920x1080 for resolution. The 20" Apple on my desk here at work is 1680x1050. The 30" is more, sure.

Main thing with TVs is that you're looking at either 720p or 1080p, where LCD computer monitors tend to vary. Unless it's a full-time computer monitor, having resolutions above and beyond what your source material might be can be detrimental depending on how well things get resized.

[Epical]

if you're gonna use it for a computer monitor, you're better off getting an actual computer monitor with component hookups than a tv with a dvi or vga in.

Reason being, with any given TV, flat screen or no, the pixels on the screen are spaced farther apart and the brightness is increased dramatically to facilitate viewing from a distance. So on a 32 inch TV you may get 1366x786 res. I get a 1920x1200 on my 24 inch computer monitor. Most 30 inch monitors you'll get around 2560x1600. Much much more room to work in.

I'm not going to use the TV as a primary display for my PC though, that's what my monitor is for. I'm going to play HD stuff off my computer on the TV and possibly use it randomly as a second monitor for maps/guides/whatever. Otherwise the 360 will be occupying it 99% of the time.

The reason why I know it looks good is because we have one hooked up to a computer at our store and it's awesome. >_>

[sekaran]

if you're gonna use it for a computer monitor, you're better off getting an actual computer monitor with component hookups than a tv with a dvi or vga in.

Reason being, with any given TV, flat screen or no, the pixels on the screen are spaced farther apart and the brightness is increased dramatically to facilitate viewing from a distance. So on a 32 inch TV you may get 1366x786 res. I get a 1920x1200 on my 24 inch computer monitor. Most 30 inch monitors you'll get around 2560x1600. Much much more room to work in.

I'm not going to use the TV as a primary display for my PC though, that's what my monitor is for. I'm going to play HD stuff off my computer on the TV and possibly use it randomly as a second monitor for maps/guides/whatever. Otherwise the 360 will be occupying it 99% of the time.

The reason why I know it looks good is because we have one hooked up to a computer at our store and it's awesome. >_>

Thats what I do pretty much do with my TV.

[Xiona]

just make sure it has the 180degree viewing field. the ones that dont are annoying

[Vertabreaker]

If $$$ isn't an issue, get an Aquos. You won't be sorry.

Agreed.

However, if you are also going to be using it as a monitor, the Dell 30inch models are fucking win and a half. Look at that resolution baby. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

But the sharp aquos is my number 1 choice, I've been waiting to buy the 32inch (or larger) model for a while, I just have no reason to yet.

You should get one. I've seen the Aquos line up against alot of other TVs side by side and in my eyes no other TV compares(the Sonys come close but are too expensive). My Aquos is 32" and I couldn't be happier with it. Has 2 HDMI, 2 sets of components which both do full 1080p(both sets double as standard AV), 1 set of standard AV, 1 DVI, and 2 sets of outputs for 7.1 surround. It's damn sexy.

Havn't hooked it up to my PC yet, but I might have to since I've been reading this thread.

[Avanarius]

I'm wanting to buy a new tv as well but going to wait until after christmas when they're dirt cheap

[Reality]

42" Westinghouse 1080p LCD TV for something like $899 at Best Buy. Colors are sharp, blacks are black, looks superb.

i know its been 5 days since you posted this but, what?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... cat0100000

that TV is 1099 now ;/

[Isiolia]

Common for that to happen with some of 'em. Prices may be less after Christmas, but that's partly because prices go up on popular items prior to the shopping season, and then are dropped back down to normal after. A couple Christmases ago I was building a PC for one of my brothers as a gift...waiting on some of the parts made 'em cost more, not less.

May have also been a promotional price too.

[killerx]

bumping this because im looking for a gaming tv, wondering what brands i could go with because honestly i have no freaking idea. I was thinking something like a samsung lcd. Size I have no problem dealing with. Brands are iffy. And im wanting something for like a xbox360 or ps3 i have no idea the difference between 720p and the 1080p. Thinking of spending like 1,100-1300 so what ever that will get me i saw a westing house 42 1080p but wasn't sure about it. So if any one could shed a little light on this that would be great. Thanks in advance