Which TV to purchase? (1 Viewer)

[EricCrane]

Hi everyone! I'm in the beginnings of tv research. Last june I bought a 32" regular tube sansui tv for $230 because upon moving out I didn't want to be watching tv from a cheap 17" sharp tv.

Here it is 8 months later and I'm craving a better tv. Here's some background.

-I sit 6 1/2 ft away from the tv
-When I do watch tv 70% of the time it's watching movies
-I have basic cable service, don't plan on getting hd for quit awhile
-$1000 is the absolut max for a budget, I would like to stay closer to $800
-The tv has to be at least 30"
-My main goal is to make my dvd's look great on the monitor

EDIT: I'll have a Playstation 2, progressive scan dvd player, and standard cable connected to the tv.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Check out the Akai/Samsung 42" HDTV monitor at Circuit City. They had it for just over 800 bucks; no DVI or HDMI inputs on this one though. Also, Walmart has Sanyo 30" HDTV widescreen TVs with built in HD tuner and HDMI input for less than 700 bucks They have another brand of 30" widescreen HDTV for about the same as the Sanyo although the exact brand escapes me. They also have a 32" 4:3 HDTV for just slightly more. I would recommend sticking with a 16x9 widescreen though.

 

[Allan Jayne]

Don't buy it, regardless of price, if it locks into 16:9 with a progressive DVD player.
Don't buy a 4:3 TV without 16:9 mode.

Other common problems:
Not enough inputs.
Slow changing channels

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

 

[EricCrane]

It's pretty cool I was thinking of buying one in 6 months but come to find out I'm getting ~1100 dollars from my taxes. Thanks to deductions I took on my interest on school loans. So now I'll wait a month for a good deal price wise or financing wise.

Right now the Sony 32" Wega KV-32HS420, Philips 30" Widescreen HD-Ready 30PW8402, Samsung 30" Premier Series DynaFlat Flat-Tube Widescreen HDTV with Built-In HD Tuner TX-P3071WH, Samsung 32" TX-P3271H, Toshiba 30" 30HF84 are all contenders. I like the 4:3 display because I don't want to see cable tv stretched on a widescreen monitor.

Thanks for the opinions, keep it coming!