Best 32" tube analog TV? (1 Viewer)

[TomMajor]

As a mutual Christmas present to each other, my wife and I are finally looking to upgrade to a good TV for our living room.

I have visited bestbuy.com and circuitcity.com for what they have and feature comparison, but have been hardpressed to find actual -reviews- of 32" TV's. So, I'd like to ask you guys for your personal reviews.

People say the Sony WEGA's are great...but what are the other ones that rank high? I won't mind spending the $$ on a flat-screen, but saving 300 bucks on a non-flat would be nice to (and money for a Digital surround system). I don't see much of an advantage to flat screen other than glare, and they say distortion, but I don't see distortion near the edges of my cheap 27" RCA now anyway...

How does Panasonic, Toshiba, Philips and RCA look? We'd **really** like something with "Volume Correction" to reduce the blaring commercials of our local stations that drive us nuts (the Sony's, JVC,Toshiba do not have it...one point against). The RCA models have the slick VPort connection for my XBOX. Is that alone worth an RCA (one point for)?

So, I'd appreciate any comments you all have on your experiences/searches in the 32" area.

Thanks!

 

[Ryan DC]

although I dont own any of the brands you have named except an older Sony trinitron, I'd recommend either the Wega or Toshiba and possibly hitchati(sp?). Almost all new tvs that are coming out now are gonna be flat screen. The picture quality of these will be much better than the other brands such as RCA and I would put this above the feature of sound correction. Also I have seen some good things said about the widescreen samsung if you're looking for widescreen tvs. The panasonics colors to me are too vibrant and bleed too much. IF you want to save $300 look for an older model trinitron that is not entirely flat but is still vertically flat online. I hope I was able to hlep you some , I figured I'd give you some input since no one else has replied yet.

 

[Jack Briggs]

How high are you willing to go, Tom?

No matter what, select a model that offers a user menu-accessible 16:9 mode.

(I'd relegate the video games to your older RCA, though.)

 

[TomMajor]

Thanks guys for the replies.
Well, I'd say I'm willing to spend about as much as the current flat-screen 32" are...around $799.00 max.
I know the Sony has 16:9 mode. And that is an important feature to me. However, I'm having trouble finding about what other brand models have this. I'm not betting that when I travel to the big stores that they're employees will have all my answers, so trying to find out just about everything I can before I visit to buy.
Good point on most new TV's being flat...I don't wanna be out-dated before I even buy it. This will probably be the last TV purchase before a widescreen HDTV for the basement...in a couple years...
Thanks again,

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I know the Sony has 16:9 mode. And that is an important feature to me. However, I'm having trouble finding about what other brand models have this

I just went though this and ended up deciding between the JVC I'ART and the Sony Wega. The costs were pretty much the same and style is nearly identical so it came down to image quality, availablity and resale value. In my case the store I ended up buying my Wega from didn't have the JVC in stock and I was too impatient to wait for it so I took the Wega but looking at both sets at another store side by side its easy to see that both offer stellar pictures. The Sony's 16:9 mode is accessable though the menu while the JVC's is available right on the remote which is much prefered so that's a bonus for the JVC. Both offer discrete codes for us pronto users. If both had been in stock I'm not sure which one I would have taken home...to me resale is something I keep in the back of my mind given how frequently I change gear and in that respect the Wega will have a much higher resale value then a JVC but the 16:9 mode button on the JVC would have been nice too. I built a simple macro on my pronto to get in and out of 16:9 mode so I worked around the only draw back to the Sony so I'm happy. Either way these are very good TV's. RCA does not have a very good reputation for reliablity so I'd avoid them if possible.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

There are several samsung models that also have 16x9 compression. Anybody care to comment on them? They seem to be a bargin for the price.

-dave

 

[Andrew Pratt]

David none of the samsungs I looked at had flat screens and at 32" or larger curved screens are quite annoying once you are used to flat screens. The 30" HDTV monitor though wasn't that much more then the 32" Wega

 

[Jan Strnad]

Contrary to all of the sensible advice you've already gotten:
I'd forget the TV and work on the sound system. It'll enhance your viewing and listening pleasure more than a move from a 27" to a 32" will do, even with a step-up in quality.
Then buy into the high-def world when prices come down.
One Man's Opinion.
Jan

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Bought a 27 inch Samsung (4x3) from best Buy for $663 that does 480P, 1080I, and has a 16x9 compression mode.

*very* nice picture and a nice price. It's hard to watch an interlaced display (and indeed we couldn't even think about purchasing ont) after viewing it.

 

[lee.b]

I've heard talk about 3:2 pulldown mode on a dvd. I'm familiar with the benefits of 16:9 squeeze on wega's etc. Question. Putting the two together, I have a question...I just purchased the sony dvpns315 for my first dvd experience (on a 19 year old mitsubishi console, of all things.complete with rf modulator, of course). Anyhoo, is there any reason why my dvd player would not allow the 16:9 squeeze on the wega sets. Thanks in advance.