Buying a new TV

[Thorin]

So my old 52" 4:3 aspect RCA suddenly won't turn on anymore.  I'm thinking that it's not worth getting someone in to look at it - when a TV goes, it goes.  Now I'm looking for suggestions for a replacement.

I've got a Dolby Digital system, and want a decent TV to watch movies on/play GameCube on.  My couches are across the room from the TV; both the couches and the TV are pushed up against their respective walls.  The walls are twelve feet apart.  So what should I be looking for?  DLP?  LCD Projection?  Plasma?  Actual projector?  I've been looking at resolutions as well.  We don't have any high-definition sources at present, but it'd be nice to get a 720p-capable TV for the future.

I could probably spend up to $3,000 plus tax.

[Mr. Analog]

I have the best TV ever (it's the one I moved into my apartment with) it's 15", older and me and has amazing picture qualities (fuzzy, nostalgic, real "wood" shell, etc). No wait, I can't sell it, it's my little buddy never mind.

[Tom]

I once had a genuine yellow plastic black+grey TV. Twas older than I am.

[Thorin]

You can find almost anything on the web these days.  Like, for instance, the hidden location of the fuse that's probably blown inside the set.  Except I'm not sure what type of fuse a 5G5A125 is.  I assume a normal-blow 5 amp 125 volt (normal-blow as opposed to fast-blow and slow-blow).

So tomorrow will be spent finding a damnable fuse to see if that fixes my problem.  Damn sight cheaper than a new TV!

[Lazybones]

To you have digital cable or just plain analog?  I have noticed there is an extreme difference in how well many of the new Plasma and LCD sets handle Analog input.

The Samsung units seem to have the best analog to digital image, they are also rated very high for quality from digital input as well. This might be an issue if you still use regular cable or a VCR..

[Cova]

While I agree with the original statement having to do with TV's being really dead when they do go - for a TV that large I'd at least invest a little into finding out what went wrong before I give up on it.  If it is that hidden fuse, you should be able to pull it out and tell if it died before you go searching for a replacement.

As for a new one, I would suggest front or rear projection, 16x9, HD capable.  If you're playing games on it, keep in mind that plasma's are the worst for image burn-in, CRTs also burn-in but not as bad, LCD's are virtually immune, and DLP is completly immune to burn-in.  There are also some new technologies around eg. LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon - AKA SXRD by Sony) that really are very good, but still expensive and hard to find.

For a specific model recomendation - it's slightly over your price-point there, but I really like this HP md5800n I've got here.  58" rear-projection DLP, 1080p capable (though it will take anything else input and scale it too), retail at best-buy should be around $3200 + GST.  And you're welcome to come check mine out if you think it will help the decision.

And if you need a good place for information - http://www.avsforum.com/  Whatever TV you pick you should be able to find an official owners thread for over there.  Before you buy, skim some of the owners thread and you'll get a quick idea of common problems with the set, as well as if it has any diy fixes for them.

[Tom]

I think I'm going to wait for a SED TV.

[Thorin]

Thanks, Cova.

It ain't the fuse, I ran all over town trying to find a 5G 5 amp 125 volt fuse (that's 5mmx20mm, not the typical AGC or AGX size of barrel fuse you can find almost anywhere).  Finally found one, put it in, didn't work, got a little jolt because I forgot to unplug the power cord, felt stupid, etc.

Wife's gonna call a technician to come and look at it and hopefully it costs less to fix than to replace.  Damn cash crunch

[Thorin]

Hmm, after looking at a few TVs online and then checking them out on www.avsforums.com, I think I'll be going with a Hitachi 51F59 for sale at The Brick.  Good old 51" rear-projection CRT tv, for only $1600.  That's a lot cheaper than what I was expecting to pay for a TV of this size.  1080i.  Hmm, well, I don't have any HD signals in my house, so that doesn't make a difference to me at all at present.  It upscales 720p to 1080i, I think.  But still, I'll be watching regular 240 lines of horizontal from regular cable most of the time.  Or, I should say, my kids will.

One thing's for sure, I've got a dead 13" CRT RCA (lasted 7 years), a dead RCA DVD player (lasted 2 years), and a dead 52" RCA (lasted 4.5 years).  I'm not buying RCA anymore.

AVS Forums had a good long thread about this TV here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=677069

Oh, and I consider the user manual for this Hitachi top-notch.  No noticeable grammar errors, nicely formatted, and they use real frickin' pictures when showing you exactly how to take the top of the bottom.  Real pictures!  Any of you that might need to write a user manual, I refer you to this one to get an idea of how to write an easy-to-read manual - even though it has lots of technical information, like how to hook up all six inputs.

[Ustauk]

The Hitachi you're looking at weights a 150 pounds  How does that compare in weight to a DLP?

[Adams]

I warn you now...

My parents have a 60" Phillips CRT Rear Projection TV, They had it for 1 year... then they had to have all 3 electron guns replaced as well as a new screen. The screen was there fault you cannot leave the TV on 4:3 mode for long periods of time. If you do it will burn the phosphorous on the screen. The 3 guns RGB all started dieing at the same time. They watch quite a bit of TV and play XBOX (yea they play 1 game Tiger Woods Golf) anyways they play that game a lot and apparently that burns out the guns quicker then regular TV because its more "enhanced" colors.

So they had 2 year warranty at Futureshop but they said it was from mis-use, anyways they got the TV fixed and now watch it in automatic mode so it stretches the screen appropriately. This TV does have HD but they haven't got to that point yet.

Just a genital warning about CRT Projection TV's... if your budget is 1500 and you want a good larger TV go for a DLP or LCD it might be smaller but well worth the money spent.

[Thorin]

Yeah, Phillips is a horrible brand name for TVs.  Low quality parts, absolutely horrible customer service.

I do understand the risks associated with CRTs.  Then again, LCDs have ghosting and bad black/white levels and dead pixels, and DLPs have expensive bulbs, rainbow effects, and a high initial price tag.  So really, the best TV to get would be a regular tube TV (euphemistically called a "Direct View" TV).  32" is about $600 to $700, these days.

Anyway, I've compared the prices on LCDs, DLPs, and CRTs, and CRTs are still by far the cheapest for the size.  Given that all three technologies can rack up a significant repair bill, why pay more than I have to?  Or get a smaller screen than I have to?

[Thorin]

Just a genital warning

Err, you meant "general", right?  I don't think I want to know what was on your mind while you were writing this post

[Mags]

I know when I was shopping for my TV, Hitachi's were the top rated in CRT bare none. Picture was far superior to any other CRT I looked at. In the end I was scared off of the negatives of CRT (mostly they are very very bad for burn in). But, if you're going that route I would strongly suggest Hitachi.

I would advise thought that you make sure to switch the TV off when ever your not watching. And probably the most annoying depending on how you look at it make sure you stretch all 4:3 TV, cause those black bars on the sides can actually burn into the screen...

[Cova]

It's not so much that the black bars "burn in" on CRT TV's - whats actually happening is kinda the opposite, though it's still a bad thing.  The phosphors black area's on the screen when letter/pillarboxing get less use and stay new and bright while the rest of the screen slowly looses brightness/contrast.  So that when you do watch something that uses that screen area, the picture on that part of the screen is much brighter than the rest of the picture.


Anyways - that hitachi looks like a decent unit.  Since most broadcast HDTV comes over at 1080i when you do get hooked up you won't have to scale the image to fit a 720p display (which you'd end up with with LCD or DLP in that $1500ish price range), same benefit if you get a HD-DVD or blue-ray player which will have content at 1080p.