Toshiba 32a33 or 27AF44? (1 Viewer)

[Chris_harpua]

Hi, i am currently looking into a new television and have narrowed it down to these two models. I am upgrading from a 20" Panasonic that Ive had for about 7 years now.

I would like to know is there a significant difference in picture quality? Glare is not an issue, viewing angle is not an issue and sound quality does not concern me as i will be hooking it up to my home theater. I just want to know is the picture that much better on the 27af44 that I would pick it over the larger 32. Due to space limitations and budget, I cannot go up to the 32a43 though. From what ive heard though, the picture tube in the 32a33 and 32a43 are the same, the difference is in the speaker placement. So it is all coming down to how large of a difference there is between the two, if there is one at all.

This decision is driving me crazy as I will be getting the television soon and I want to make sure that I am happy with what I purchase. Thanks.

 

[Arthur S]

Chris

Let me tell you something learned from my experience. When I went from a 21 to a 32 it seemed huge at first. Then, after 2 weeks the 32 didn't seem large at all and when I had to go back to the 21 for a short time it seemed positively tiny. A significantly larger display easily has more impact than a slight difference in picture quality. This is easy to check. Go into any store that has a 32 next to a 27. If you look at any 32 next to any 27 from any distance over 5 feet, the size difference completely blows away any but a gross picture quality difference. CRTs are so mature at this point, after 50 years of manufacture, that picture quality is a given. Yes, Sony has the ultimate in CRT picture quality but you are not talking Sony. Please, do yourself a favor and get a 32 and stop agonizing over very, very slight potential differences in PQ.

Artie

 

[Chris_harpua]

hah, thank you, thats all i needed to hear =)

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sony is not the be-end/end-all of picture quality, by the way. And after professional calibration, one is hard pressed to tell the difference among Sony, Toshiba, Philips, Panasonic, etc., etc.

 

[Arthur S]

Jack

Thanks for ringing in. I base my comments regarding Sony picture quality on the December 2004 issue of Consumer Reports.

IMHO, CR's video engineers can tell better picture quality when they see it. It is not nearly as subjective as speaker quality. In the 12/04 tests Sony had the best PQ in the following categories:

4:3 High Definition Tube: 32HS420 this compared to JVC and Panasonic

16:9 High Definition Tube: 34XBR960 this compared to Panasonic, Toshiba, Philips, Samsung

36 inch 4:3 Standard Definition Tube: 36FS120 this compared to JVC

They will be testing 36 inch Standard Definition in March 2005.

In a way I think you made the point I was making to Chris. Difference in PQ in CRTs is not all that great between brands. Never the less, I would trust the engineers at CR enough to follow their advice if I was seeking the absolute best PQ and was willing to pay the price to get a Sony. The December issue of CR may still be around. You might get your $4 worth just to see what they have to say about all the different TVs they tested not to mention computers, and DVD players. They just happened to stumble across a very cheap DVD player that delivered an outstanding picture to an HD TV. I picked one of these Toshibas up from Amazon for $57.


BTW What do you make of their finding that the ($3,200) Sony KE-42M1 Plasma, an ED TV had as good PQ on HD material and DVD as the top rated HD Plasma, the ($5,000) Panasonic TH-42PX25U/P ?

It is funny how something like that can happen some times. Or at least I believe it. Oh well, nice talkin to ya.

Artie

 

[Bill Will]

I agree! If you can't afford a Flat 32" go with the regular 32" over a Flat 27" Where your really going to notice the difference on a 32" set compared to a 27" set is when your watching Letter-boxed DVD's. By the way I'm hearing good things about the A33 for the money so I would give it a shot but as always, buy it from a place that you can return it without any problems & if you do get the set let us know what you think about it. Let me also throw into the mix the 32" Sanyo for $247.00 at Wal-Mart. My neighbor bought one for the kids family room & I was surprised at how good the picture quality was after it was adjusted but the sound quality was Very Poor. The set has 2 sets of Composite A/V Inputs, 1 set of Component Video Inputs & 1 set of Fixed Audio Outputs & it has the 16:9 DVD Mode for the Component Inuts & if it breaks within 1 year Wal-Mart will give you another one & you have 90 days to play it before Wal-Mart won't take it back. I'm not pushing the Sanyo I just wanted to give you another option Also let me throw in that if you go with a 27" Flat set go with the Sony or the JVC because they both have the 16:9 DVD Mode & the Toshiba 27" Flat doesn't. But make sure it's the "Regular" Line JVC model not the JVC "Discount" model that Best Buy has. I've seen the Sony for as low as $299 & the JVC for as low as $270. You might also want to consider the 27" Magnavox Flat Tube HDTV that Circuit City has right now for $414.00 & seems to be getting some pretty good reviews on Circuit City's website.

 

[Rogozhin]

The Toshiba 27AF43 has the 16:9 mode.

Go with a 32

Rogo

 

[eddieZEN]

> You might also want to consider the 27" Magnavox Flat Tube HDTV that Circuit City has right now for $414.00 & seems to be getting some pretty good reviews on Circuit City's website

Well, the problem with Circuit City's reviews is that at least 70% must be written by CC employees...just transparently bogus! And way too many useless one- or two-sentence reviews that sound like they were written by some ditzy high school cheerleaders.