Thinking of buying a new TV?

[Blabj]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...vflowchart.jpg

[Ksandra]

I am laughing so hard at this you have no idea, welcome to my world every time we go with one of my guy friends to best buy.

[Auspice]

Bravo, that flowchart is awesome.

[aalryn]

It is awesome. A bit hard to follow, but it can be all summed up with the last statement.

Go to the store and look at them. The one with the picture you like you take home with you. They are all about the same price and they'll all break long after you should have been replacing it anyway.

[Darus Grey]

It is awesome. A bit hard to follow, but it can be all summed up with the last statement.

Go to the store and look at them. The one with the picture you like you take home with you. They are all about the same price and they'll all break long after you should have been replacing it anyway.

Honestly that's some of the worst advice. In-store viewing is like the worst criteria imaginable.

[aalryn]

Honestly that's some of the worst advice. In-store viewing is like the worst criteria imaginable.

While you are correct that you will not get the best picture in the store as they typically are running off a dvd playing and running through miles of cables, the lighting is horrible, etc; You are looking at each and every tv on completely equal footing. The lighting is horrible for all of them and the picture is not as good as it will be in your home for any of them.


As long as you don't get sucked in by sony's default blaring bright and cool image that makes people tend to notice that one first, you can best compare skin tone, black levels, sharpness, etc in a store when it's side by side.

As someone who has worked in the home theater buisness in the past for many years (both in retail sales and owning a home theater installation company) I can attest that, well, your flat out wrong.

[Cephius]

While you are correct that you will not get the best picture in the store as they typically are running off a dvd playing and running through miles of cables, the lighting is horrible, etc; You are looking at each and every tv on completely equal footing. The lighting is horrible for all of them and the picture is not as good as it will be in your home for any of them.


As long as you don't get sucked in by sony's default blaring bright and cool image that makes people tend to notice that one first, you can best compare skin tone, black levels, sharpness, etc in a store when it's side by side.

As someone who has worked in the home theater buisness in the past for many years (both in retail sales and owning a home theater installation company) I can attest that, well, your flat out wrong.

Have to agree with this. Nothing wrong with in-store viewing. When I bought my Plasma I went to a bunch of stores to compare models and then went home to buy the one I liked online. Why you'd ever blindly buy a TV without at least seeing the picture first is beyond me. Not everyone has the same tastes, so relying on online reviews alone seems pretty silly.

[Mabubeezareel]

You are looking at each and every tv on completely equal footing. The lighting is horrible for all of them and the picture is not as good as it will be in your home for any of them.

Unless every single display set has been optimally calibrated by the retailer to produce its best PQ, then no, you are most definitely NOT viewing every TV on "completely equal footing." It is well-known that many retailers will calibrate their display sets in a manner that will cause the models that yield the most profit to have much better PQ than the ones that yield the least profit. They prey on taking advantage of mindless consumers making uninformed decisions. That's what retail is all about.

This may not have been your own personal experience while working in the industry, but you'd be foolish to think that it doesn't happen on a larger scale.

I agree with Darus - using an in-store display comparison as the main decision-making criteria is terrible advice.

[Isiolia]

While you are correct that you will not get the best picture in the store as they typically are running off a dvd playing and running through miles of cables, the lighting is horrible, etc; You are looking at each and every tv on completely equal footing. The lighting is horrible for all of them and the picture is not as good as it will be in your home for any of them.


As long as you don't get sucked in by sony's default blaring bright and cool image that makes people tend to notice that one first, you can best compare skin tone, black levels, sharpness, etc in a store when it's side by side.

As someone who has worked in the home theater buisness in the past for many years (both in retail sales and owning a home theater installation company) I can attest that, well, your flat out wrong.

Eh, yes and no. Unless you make it a point to ensure they are, as you sorta pointed out.

Some have "demo" modes that they'll be in, designed to look good in that sort of environment, where others might not. Or the salespeople may have adjusted some and not others. In some cases, company reps may have come in for some to ensure that particular brands look good (based on my retail experience, granted, it was a long time ago).

Not saying you can't compare things in-store, just that you can't necessarily take things at face value when you do. Kind of like if you were shopping for speakers (or whatever), you'd make an effort to audition them at the same volume/settings, and with the same music.

You may be stuck with the same crappy environment to evaluate them all on (assuming they're all on the same wall), but that doesn't mean it's equal footing by default.

[Darus Grey]

What they said ^.

I personally would rather buy a set "blind" based on comments and reviews from places like AVS forums than use in-store viewing as my guiding principle.

I went to 4 different stores when deciding what TVs to use in my game center, and all the models I made a list of looked like trash consistently...I did this before when I bought my HD-CRT(best purchase ever) and had the same experience, so don't know why I bothered again thinking things may have changed.

So I just bought the recommended sets anyways...

Honestly unless you can calibrate the TV in-store, you're buying them practically blind anyways...why fool yourself.

[Blabj]

If I'm spending more than £500 on something I want to experience the product first hand, and compare it to other products I'm considering to buy, regardless of what it is.

If it's a bed, you want to lie down on it to make sure it's comfortable. If it's a car, you want to drive it to make sure it performs well. There are many analogies I could use, but at the end of the day, you'd be a fool to go careening blindly into a decision based on what some random person has to say on an Amazon product review.

It may well be that some manufacturers put a demo mode on their TV, but that is no bad thing. They are showing you what their television is capable of, and showing it to you under the best light possible, given the circumstances (as mentioned above, poor lighting, crappy source) and this is something that all manufacturers could just as easily do, but some don't.

You'd be much better off having had the experience of looking at various alternatives first person than from scouring the internet looking for reviews from people (who may not be proper reviewers, or may be completely biased towards this product) who reaffirm your belief that the decision you have made is the right one.

[Darus Grey]

Bad analogy...if the bed I lay in, isn't the one I get when I take it home, what purpose did trying it serve?

None.

I understand the compulsion to "experience first-hand"...display rooms(often in general, not just in the case of TVs) are an irrational venue that cater to that desire, as I admit to even above. But as I said, let's not fool ourselves to thinking they really help.

[Blabj]

Bad analogy...if the bed I lay in, isn't the one I get when I take it home, what purpose did trying it serve?

It helped you see there was a more comfortable bed.

[Auspice]

Why not mix a few philosophies and research the TV first then go to the store to look at it and see how it stacks up with similar models?

Also, I never thought of TVs like computer hardware until I talked to a manager at Sears but there's no point buying the top of the line model since you'll lose your head on it and if you're like me you will replace it after a couple of years(just like my PC) so buy midrange! I love my 50" Samsung 650 series and I got it for only $800 at Sears.

[Darus Grey]

/facepalm

[Isiolia]

If I'm spending more than £500 on something I want to experience the product first hand, and compare it to other products I'm considering to buy, regardless of what it is.

If it's a bed, you want to lie down on it to make sure it's comfortable. If it's a car, you want to drive it to make sure it performs well. There are many analogies I could use, but at the end of the day, you'd be a fool to go careening blindly into a decision based on what some random person has to say on an Amazon product review.

It may well be that some manufacturers put a demo mode on their TV, but that is no bad thing. They are showing you what their television is capable of, and showing it to you under the best light possible, given the circumstances (as mentioned above, poor lighting, crappy source) and this is something that all manufacturers could just as easily do, but some don't.

You'd be much better off having had the experience of looking at various alternatives first person than from scouring the internet looking for reviews from people (who may not be proper reviewers, or may be completely biased towards this product) who reaffirm your belief that the decision you have made is the right one.

The issue is more that a "demo mode" is more akin to making sure a particular car on the lot is polished, has the radio set to a station the customer likes, and so on. It has little to do with the actual capabilities of the car, and a lot more to do with grabbing favorable attention.
A TV that's running on full-bore dynamic picture, brightness cranked, blaring colors, sharpness way up, and so on puts forth a good impression in a retail environment. It has nothing to do with whether the thing is capable of -accurate- color, whether it has latency when gaming, if the model has reliability problems, and so on.

Granted, customer reviews on the 'net tend to be either folks so enamored with the thing that they had to come rave about it...or people who hate it. However, for something like a TV...you can go to sites like AVS forum and read an "owner's thread" with literally thousands of posts that'll give you a good idea of what problems/solutions people have had even with different revisions of the product or product line.
What impressions I get from a product from poking at it in a store are probably going to pale compared to those of enthusiasts that have possibly owned it for months. Taking some of them with a grain of salt is warranted, sure, but it can net a lot of good info.

I mean, if I'm spending $500+, I'll want to do some research, not just buy what looked nice in the store.

It helped you see there was a more comfortable bed.

It's only valid if the one you get is -completely- identical. You'll usually get something that's pretty much the same, sure. There are possibilities that you'd get a lemon, or an earlier revision, or whatever. Not every XBox 360 60GB is the same motherboard revision, for example, but the product/box/etc is the same.

Also, I never thought of TVs like computer hardware until I talked to a manager at Sears but there's no point buying the top of the line model since you'll lose your head on it and if you're like me you will replace it after a couple of years(just like my PC) so buy midrange! I love my 50" Samsung 650 series and I got it for only $800 at Sears.

Well, it'd depend too on what you do with your old stuff. I agree in general, buying midrange tends to make the most sense (unless you're loaded). However, I tend to keep stuff and just shift where I'm using it. If I'm spending the money, I want to buy something that'll continue to work in other capacities. It might only be my living room TV for 3-5 years, but if it keeps working I'll probably keep it for 10-15...

[Auspice]

Well, it'd depend too on what you do with your old stuff. I agree in general, buying midrange tends to make the most sense (unless you're loaded). However, I tend to keep stuff and just shift where I'm using it. If I'm spending the money, I want to buy something that'll continue to work in other capacities. It might only be my living room TV for 3-5 years, but if it keeps working I'll probably keep it for 10-15...

Yeah, I do the same thing. My old gaming rig is my wife's PC and our old HDTV is in the bedroom now.

[Blabj]

I'm not saying that only looking at a TV in store will net you the best possible TV in your price range. Far from it. What I hoped to convey was that you should research the product and then go to a store and look at it and/or other alternatives. What harm can it possibly do? If anything it might save you from making a purchase that wasn't right.

[Darus Grey]

I'm not saying that only looking at a TV in store will net you the best possible TV in your price range. Far from it. What I hoped to convey was that you should research the product and then go to a store and look at it and/or other alternatives. What harm can it possibly do? If anything it might save you from making a purchase that wasn't right.

Apparently you just don't value your time as much as other people do, that's all it boils down to.

If I can't possibly get an accurate or often as not even rough guess on the actual merits of a set, due to the way they're displayed in the store... what purpose does the trip serve? None, as I've said. I'll be honest, I don't get why you have such trouble getting that.

It is generally impossible to view a set in the actual condition you will use it in your home, it's not like a car, seeing it in the store is not a test drive...unless the bezel is your primary concern(lol).

As I said, desire for firsthand experience is a strong desire, but is often irrational. "What harm could it do?" As I said, I, at least, can find something better to do with an afternoon than waste it.

[Blabj]

Okay well you're posting on an MMO forum so you can get off your high horse.