Cheap TV (1 Viewer)

[Ryan R F]

I'm looking at buying a 27"-32" tv to use for a few years until my wife ok's the big screen(wants to get new living room furniture and bedroom furniture first). I'm on a tight budget of $400 or under though. Any suggestions in that price range or should I just look for the cheapest I can find?

 

[Jim Mcc]

Most wives are silly that way, wanting to buy furniture first. Are you talking about an analog set? If so, I would recommend a 32" Sharp(Sharp is consistently rated the most reliable 32" by Consumer Reports). I bought a Sharp 32C540 about a year ago and it's great. I've also had a 27" Sharp for about 10 years, and have never had a problem with it. It'll be well under $400.00.

 

[Dick Knisely]

See if you can find the electronics issue of Consumer Reports (November I think). They had several recommended tube TVs in that price range. For reliability the top ones were Sanyo, Toshiba, Sharp and Sony. Sony has topped their list of best quality picture nearly every time, but Toshiba and Panasonic have also been consistently good.

 

[Andy_A]

I saw a 27 inch no-name brand w/ s-video input at BB open box for $149. If you're looking for analog, I'd go with he cheapest tube set w/ s-video. Good luck

 

[John S]

Still think about an HDTV in the 30" size.....

http://www.electronicsalley.com/shop...0531ab97759fb1

Click the down arrow on Products and go to specials...

30" HDTV with free shipping.. 30PW850H $359


Best of luck with it.

 

[Allan Jayne]

I would say, do not buy a set with just one composite input, just one S-video input and just one video selection on the remote. You will be cursing it within seven days when you must unplug the DVD palyer before you can use your VCR and vice versa. A switch box won't help.

Other problem areas with discount store TV's:

* No 16:9 mode or a 16:9 mode with gray letterbox bars -- the latter has the TV downconverting your anamorphic DVD's to free up scan lines to make gray bars with.

* Takes forever to change channels after you push the numbers on the remote.

* Lots of dot crawl or zippered edges (where color patches meet).

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Andy_A]

as long as you have coaxial input, you can loop the cable tv coax through the vcr and then hook the dvd player independently through s video. You could also buy a $10 radio shack selector box or use your receiver switching. As for 16 X 9 modes, many no name tvs do in fact have this feature. In fact, except for Sony, most of the sets that had this feature first were no names. As I said before, if you're looking for size and excellent picture quality for the best price, buy the cheapest set you can find w/ s-video.

PS: I did see a non name new 30 inch HD monitor at BB day after Thanksgiving for $399, but that is still almost double an analog 32 inch set

 

[Ryan R F]

I will be watching analog cable and dvds on it, would it be worth it for me to get a hdtv one like John linked or should I just grab a analog?

 

[Andy_A]

You could benefit w/ an HD monitor w/ 480p or upscaled 1080i dvds, but the analog cable really wouldn't make all that much diff. I'd probably go w/ the analog because you mentioned this was a transition set and dvds look really excellent w/ s-video...