Advent - 27" Flat-Tube HD-Ready TV (1 Viewer)

[Daris]

Hi all! First time on these forums and hoping you all can help. Now, a lot of this audio and video that you all have, I've never heard of before in my life! I just know about the common stuff: Sony, Pioneer, Onkyo etc., you know, stuff you see in Circuit City and Best Buy. LOL!

Well just for an FYI, I'm BIG into video games and anime (yeah, I like the regular movies too...) and I've started to see where home entertainment is going and I'm trying to jump on the bandwagon with a small budget, so here goes. I'm interested in the television I listed in the subject box and was wondering how it was as far as quality, dependability, etc. They also have a regular flat screen tv I like and Apex has a nice regular 27" too.

As far as the home theater part goes, I was looking into getting an all-in- one home theater system to play music, movies, and whatever else I can do with it. I really like the Sony systems, but everytime I tried a stores demo, it seemed difficult to get the CD to go in there in the first place!

Now Panasonic has a nice DVD player that does EVERTHING for about $100 but I havent found a nice receiver/speaker combo that's in my price range yet. (under or around $300 if possible, but I think I could swing $400, not sure yet...) There is one from Onkyo that I saw in Circuit City that I liked, but I can't remember what it was. Now, if push came to shove and I got the TV I wanted, I'd be looking at the Sony WEGA's because of their 16:9 ratio they can play movies on. I know it's not the same, but a poor man's got to play somehow!

Also, what online stores, if any, do you all suggest to get some good deals from? Crutchfield is cool and all but they're waaaayyy too expensive for me right now. Well, this is all I can think of right now. Look foward to some replies and thanks in advance people.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Daris,

I'd be a bit leery of Advent, Apex, Daewoo, etc. for tv sets.

Under $500 for an hd-ready 27" set is an attractive price but this is most probably a no-name Chinese mfg and they have no track record for reliability. Apex is famous for poor quality.

There are plenty of 27" analog flatscreens with squeeze capability from known good mfgs, Samsung, Sharp, JVC, for under $400, and the Sony KV27FS-100 can be had at BB for $429 now.

As far as audio, it might be wiser to get a decent $300 receiver and just a pair of bookshelf speakers at first and upgrade speakers later--2 channel stereo is still going to beat tv speakers by a long shot. Add an $80 dvd player. As more money becomes available you can upgrade your speakers and add a powered sub. This way you will have a much better quality system than a $200 htb setup.

The Onkyo HTB you're referring to is a great deal for the money, but runs $500ish without a dvd player.

 

[Bill Will]

I would stay away from the Advent Brand. Do a search on it here & you will get some info on it & if I remember right one of the members here who works at Best Buy said they were nothing but trouble & there were many returns on them. How much are you looking to spend on a tv? The 2 analog sets that I have been telling people to take a look at are the Flat Tube Toshiba's & JVC's. I've seen the JVC 27 inch for as low as $277.00 & the 32 inch as low as $488.88 & both Toshiba & JVC have the 16:9 DVD mode. Don't get me wrong, the Sony's are great sets I just think they are over-priced & the picture on the Toshiba's & JVC's are just as good.I think Steve's advice is also the way I would go with a receiver & speakers.

 

[Daris]

Hey guys, thanks so much for the advice. It really mean a lot! I never thought about getting seperate pieces because I thought It'd be way too much money, well, right now it kind of is, but I see what your saying though.

I'm not the biggest home theater buff, but ever since I've heard a sourround sound system, that's what I've to get, especially for gaming. Man, can't wait to hear HALO and Splinter Cell in 5.1! :p

I going to be doing some more research on the forums so I can get up to speed with some of this stuff. Again thanks for the knowledge.