Xbox 360 Flatscreen TV recommendations

[BlueSeats626]

Let me preface this post by saying I know nearly nothing about Flatscreen tvs. I don't know the difference between LCD, Plasma, etc. I'm a novice when it comes to that stuff.

I want to upgrade the television I play 360 on, especially with MW2 coming out soon. Size is not really an issue. The setup I have really calls for nothing bigger than 30in. I would like to keep the cost as minimal as possible without buying a complete piece of crap. I don't have HD cable nor do I plan on getting it anytime soon, this would just be for the 360. I would like to spend no more than $500, but the cheaper the better. Also, does regular cable on an HD tv (without HD service of course) look bad?

No clue where to start, any suggestions?

 

[Man Called X]

Let me preface this post by saying I know nearly nothing about Flatscreen tvs. I don't know the difference between LCD, Plasma, etc. I'm a novice when it comes to that stuff.

I want to upgrade the television I play 360 on, especially with MW2 coming out soon. Size is not really an issue. The setup I have really calls for nothing bigger than 30in. I would like to keep the cost as minimal as possible without buying a complete piece of crap. I don't have HD cable nor do I plan on getting it anytime soon, this would just be for the 360. I would like to spend no more than $500, but the cheaper the better. Also, does regular cable on an HD tv (without HD service of course) look bad?

No clue where to start, any suggestions?

Any analog feed on an HDTV is going to look slightly blurry.

Plasma tvs are on the way out, and in your price range, LCD is what you're looking for. You should be able to get a nice 32" tv for around $500 though.

http://www.walmart.com/Vizio-32-1080p-LCD-Java/ip/10778775

This is the TV I'd sell you if you came into my store.

This isn't 1080p, but does have 120hz refresh rate.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10983695

This is from a crappy brand, but it's a top of the line TV in that size range.
http://www.walmart.com/Philips-32-Widescreen-1080P-Lcd/ip/11018736

 

[The Voice]

Any analog feed on an HDTV is going to look slightly blurry.

Plasma tvs are on the way out, and in your price range, LCD is what you're looking for. You should be able to get a nice 32" tv for around $500 though.

http://www.walmart.com/Vizio-32-1080p-LCD-Java/ip/10778775

This is the TV I'd sell you if you came into my store.

This isn't 1080p, but does have 120hz refresh rate.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10983695

This is from a crappy brand, but it's a top of the line TV in that size range.
http://www.walmart.com/Philips-32-Widescreen-1080P-Lcd/ip/11018736

Two years ago I bought a 37" Vizio for 500 with a free wall mount, shipping, and 2 year warranty...

Here's a 46"

46" Samsung 1080P for 800: http://www.onsale.com/p/Samsung-Electronics-Video/product~dpno~7801158~pdp.feghiag
46" Sharp 1080P for 525: http://www.onsale.com/p/Sharp-Video/product~dpno~7949235~pdp.fiffijc
32" Samsung 1080P for 499: http://www.onsale.com/p/Samsung-Electronics-Video/product~dpno~7850574~pdp.ffjgajc


The question is how big of a tv do you want?

 

[Man Called X]

Two years ago I bought a 37" Vizio for 500 with a free wall mount, shipping, and 2 year warranty...

My 37" Vizio is $548 I believe. Did you buy it online? We never have bundles like that in the store.

 

[The Voice]

My 37" Vizio is $548 I believe. Did you buy it online? We never have bundles like that in the store.

Yeah, I bought online. It was the best purchase I've ever made considering that that was a huge deal 2 years ago. The 500 was after rebate though, so I had to wait maybe a month or so to get 50 back. I never buy anything electronic in stores. They rip you off hardcore. Unless of course you know the owner and get a fat discount. I'm waiting until Christmas to get the logitech 880 universal remote.

Vizio's are nice TV's, but the one and only gripe I have with them is the sound quality. If you get a Vizio, you will almost for certain need to get some sort of surround sound going. Then again, if you buy any LCD TV, you don't get the full experience without surround sound.

PS: cnet rated the TV I bought best of its size too. They took into account price/quality/ect...

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

The best TV's right now are LED, but they're certainly out of your price range and you don't need their benefits.

Plasma TVs are basically phased out. You want an LCD TV.

The best brand of LCD TV is Samsung, without question. However, if you're looking for a smaller TV, and don't plan on utilizing HD cable, then I'd say go for a budget brand, like Insignia, Vizio, etc..

Question: Do you plan on using HDMI to hook your 360 up to the TV in hd? Or are you going to use the standard def cables?

 

[BlueSeats626]

Question: Do you plan on using HDMI to hook your 360 up to the TV in hd? Or are you going to use the standard def cables?

The 360 has both HMDI cables and standard cables which you hook up to the appropriate TV.

 

[Ayatolla of Slamola]

Major things to look at is if it is 1080p, 120hz, and look for nice contrast ratios. There are some tvs out there that you can get "cheap" but the contrast ratio is only like 5,000:1 and 60hz.

I picked up a LG 47LH40 for $1100 from best buy. It is a 47" LCD, 120hz and 80,000:1 contrast ratio. Contrast ratio's don't get much better than that unless you go to an LED which will run you from $1500 to $3000+.

 

[Man Called X]

Contrast ratios are completely imaginary numbers.

There is no industry standard to measure "dynamic or static" contrast ratio. While there is math behind all the numbers, no two companies use the same math to find their number.

 

[The Voice]

BlueSeats I recommend getting a bluray player and subscribing to netflix (you can stream HD/rent bluray for what they don't have) if you're into movies and tv shows.

The best TV's right now are LED, but they're certainly out of your price range and you don't need their benefits.

Plasma TVs are basically phased out. You want an LCD TV.

The best brand of LCD TV is Samsung, without question. However, if you're looking for a smaller TV, and don't plan on utilizing HD cable, then I'd say go for a budget brand, like Insignia, Vizio, etc..

Question: Do you plan on using HDMI to hook your 360 up to the TV in hd? Or are you going to use the standard def cables?

No they aren't, it depends on size. There's no way Samsung is rated number 1 in every size. Not to mention which ratings site you go to.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

BlueSeats I recommend getting a bluray player and subscribing to netflix (you can stream HD/rent bluray for what they don't have) if you're into movies and tv shows.



No they aren't, it depends on size. There's no way Samsung is rated number 1 in every size. Not to mention which ratings site you go to.

If you ask anyone who works with TV's, Samsung's LCD displays are the highest quality ones around right now, leading to their TV's looking better than the rest.

Of course, you're free to form your own opinion, but most experts will tell you that if you want a quality LCD TV, Samsung is the way to go.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

The 360 has both HMDI cables and standard cables which you hook up to the appropriate TV.

I know... I was just wondering if you were planning on actually using the HDMI cable, since in your description you seemed like you didn't really embrace the whole high-def thing.

Anyways, if you want to browse TV's and are looking for a good opinion or advice, I'd recommend just shopping around Best Buy. Find a guy in Home Theater who knows his stuff, and he can point you towards the right model for you. However, I'd then recommend shopping around. The mark-ups in home theater are quite significant, and I believe you can find better prices elsewhere. Of course, Best Buy does match prices, so if you do find a better price, you can show it to the guy at Best Buy and still purchase there.

 

[Man Called X]

BlueSeats I recommend getting a bluray player and subscribing to netflix (you can stream HD/rent bluray for what they don't have) if you're into movies and tv shows.



No they aren't, it depends on size. There's no way Samsung is rated number 1 in every size. Not to mention which ratings site you go to.

Technically, Samsung is your #1 LCD tv maker. Though Vizio is technically your #1 selling LCD TV. At least in America, but you can thank that to only selling them at Walmart.

I will add that you're paying roughly at least $100-200 more to buy a Samsung over a comparable Vizio.

 

[Zog]

Samsung is the best for LCDs, followed by Sony. Panasonic and Samsung are the best for Plasmas (besides the ridiculously expensive Pioneers).

I currently have a Samsung and one of my roommates a couple years ago had a Vizio, and there is really no comparison. Yes, the Samsung is going to be ~$100-200 more, but it's well worth it in the long run.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

BlueSeats I recommend getting a bluray player and subscribing to netflix (you can stream HD/rent bluray for what they don't have) if you're into movies and tv shows.



No they aren't, it depends on size. There's no way Samsung is rated number 1 in every size. Not to mention which ratings site you go to.

One more chuckle... ratings site? Personal experience and working with televisions tends to be a lot more reliable of a gauge than a random online ratings site.