HDTV Recommendations

[tehfire]

Hey all,
I'm looking to get a nice HDTV for my apartment...I was thinking somewhere around 36" or so. I don't need it to be LCD or plasma, just something with good quality and that can accept HDTV signals. 1080i and 720p, preferrably. Anybody know of any good ones below $1200? Below $800?

Thanks

[miahallen]

Hey all,
I'm looking to get a nice HDTV for my apartment...I was thinking somewhere around 36" or so. I don't need it to be LCD or plasma, just something with good quality and that can accept HDTV signals. 1080i and 720p, preferrably. Anybody know of any good ones below $1200? Below $800?

Thanks

Sharp LC37D62U 37" LCD TV for about $1200
This is a really nice TV/monitor that supports full resolution HDTV (1920x1080). It has great picture, and good price. My Mother recently purchased the 40" version, and it looks increadible. I highly recommend it.

Sharp AQUOS LC-37D43U 37" LCD TV for about $1000
This set is almost the same, but features 1366x768 native resolution, which means it supports 720p native, and will also accept 1080i input (or 1080p), but they will be scalled down to 720p. Still very good picture, and slightly lower price.

There are lot's of set's out there, and if you really want to save some money, go to the 32" size, Sharp sells a 32" 1080p set you can find online for under $1000, and there are lots of 720p sets in the $500-800 range.

Any chance you want this to double as a computer monitor (for other than MCE usage)? If so that 1080p resolution become much more compelling.

[tehfire]

No chance for using this as a computer monitor I think, although I've been thinking about putting my trusty computer (with the SPCR treatment, of course with the TV as a media center.

[jhhoffma]

I have an HDTV monitor for my HTPC. It's a CRT RPTV, so it handles 1080i natively. However it also converts 720p as well, which is what I run my desktop at (minus overscan). 720p isn't that bad for display, especially if you use larger fonts and icons on your desktop, otherwise things get a little harder to read from 7-10' away.

My display is limited by the fuzziness of CRTs. They're just not as crisp as an LCD monitor, particularly CRTs with three cathodes. It's pretty fuzzy, particularly at the edges. However, I can use it for web-browsing for short periods. I don't think most people would have a problem viewing web pages or even typing out emails or IMs on an 720p LCD.

[Beyonder]

Hey all,
I'm looking to get a nice HDTV for my apartment...I was thinking somewhere around 36" or so. I don't need it to be LCD or plasma, just something with good quality and that can accept HDTV signals. 1080i and 720p, preferrably. Anybody know of any good ones below $1200? Below $800?

Thanks

If you don't need it to have a tuner, this is a steal.

if you need it to have an HDTV tuner, you could grab this one.

Below $800 you can't get 1080P (which is nice if you want to drive the set with an HTPC at some future date--easier resolution to deal with), but there are a few nice sets.

[PrivatePixel]

I'm looking to get a nice HDTV for my apartment...I was thinking somewhere around 36" or so. I don't need it to be LCD or plasma, just something with good quality and that can accept HDTV signals. 1080i and 720p, preferrably. Anybody know of any good ones below $1200? Below $800?

You can find a fairly comprehensive list of HDTV sets (incl. model number, projection type, aspect ratio and price) at HDTV Magazine (links below):

CRT
LCD
Plasma

I bought a Sony KV-32HS420 a few years back and I'm pretty happy with it (will likely get something wider and thinner that supports 1080p next year); paid <$900 when it was on sale. The only drawback to it is its weight: 165 pounds (it's a CRT). If you can live without 1080p, CRTs are the best bargains for HDTV sets. If calibrated properly, CRTs offer brighter colors and deeper blacks than LCDs and plasmas (though LCDs are narrowing the gap). The major trade-offs to CRTs are their weight and bigger sets will have larger footprints.

Screen burn-in is still a concern with plasmas, so it may be best to avoid these in your search. Although I prefer the major brands (Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp, etc.), there are good viable alternatives from companies such as Olevia and Westinghouse (I like Samsung for LCD computer monitors, but not HDTVs; stay away from RCA and Philips).

If you're looking for recommendations, I would strongly suggest checking A/V or home theater forums such as AVS or Home Theater Forum.