need advice on a new tv

It finaly happened my old crt tv is starting to die. so I need to look into buying a new one the old one is a 27 inch crt, I would like a screen about the same size. cost is an obstruction, but i'm willing to pay the price for quality and longevity. I will have to buy mail order so i'm looking for suggestions from those of you all who have purchased some of the different brands out there. pro's and cons on picture quality and longevity.

I have had great luck with the SAMSUNG brand flat panel sets. Use them at home and the cigar lounge.

If you had a 27" CRT then consider a 32" flat panel. The 32", if it doesn't have a big frame, will only be marginally wider than your old 27" set.

First question I would ask is how do you get your TV signal? If its cable or satellite then my question is what is your converter box resolution? If your satellite box only outputs 720p then there is no reason to spend the extra money to get a 1080p resolution set. On the other hand if you box outputs 1080p and/or you/your family watch a lot of Blu-Ray discs then pop for the 1080p set.

Prices have dropped dramatically. A 720p Samsung 32" set can be had for just over $300 in my area. That is a nice picture for a modest price.

Today, I bought a 50" Sony for $599 on sale at Best Buy. The picture is outstanding and I have not even a chance yet to sit down and calibrate it. It is hooked up to Comcast's Xfinity X1 HD system which is an outstanding system with great HD. It should be. I pay enough for it.

This set has no 3D (which I hate) no wifi or smart TV. If I need that I will pick up a Roku or Neo for 50 bucks and plug it into the TV.

Now they did have the Sony Ultra HD set there for 4 thousand dollars if you like to have the best.

Air antenna signal capture will always get good clarity

Mel's description above (720p) will get you approximately the resolution of a 15" laptop screen. Satellite, cable & phone signal feeds may resort to compression, which will dilute the picture quality. Final thing to be aware of is paid providers have different signals: "digital" and "HD" mean different generally pricing levels.

One suggestion is if you have not added at least a powered subwoofer to your CRT TV, now is the time. With black Friday/Monday a month away an AM-FM CD/DVD/Bluray power amp with speakers will be out there cheap.

grizzer said:

Air antenna signal capture will always get good clarity

Mel's description above (720p) will get you approximately the resolution of a 15" laptop screen. Satellite, cable & phone signal feeds may resort to compression, which will dilute the picture quality. Final thing to be aware of is paid providers have different signals: "digital" and "HD" mean different generally pricing levels.

One suggestion is if you have not added at least a powered subwoofer to your CRT TV, now is the time. With black Friday/Monday a month away an AM-FM CD/DVD/Bluray power amp with speakers will be out there cheap.

Click to expand...

Yup. My problem is since the digital conversion a few years ago I cannot receive OTA. I have tried external UHF antennas to no avail. For me, it is a service provider or no service. They also shut down the analogs on Mt. Washington so that cut me off from a Maine station as well. The digital conversion cost me the Montreal stations too.

A friend of mine who has a clear shot to the mountain where all the transmitters are gets a gorgeous picture on the locals. Outstanding.

I upgraded a couple years ago and when with a 55" Panasonic Smart TV. It was top rated at the time. I'm very happy with it. I use netflix, youtube, internet hulu and all those options via the TV much more now that I don't have to run them through a dvd player (which was my other option before). Smart TV gives you a lot more options as long as you have Wifi in your house. If you don't Wifi is easy to set up, plenty of us here can help with that if needbe.

All that said I do not think you could go wrong with a Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba or Vizio. I would go 39 or 46" as prices have dropped and they are only a few bucks more than the 32" ones.

Tiger Direct has good prices. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?CatId=37&cm_re=Homepage-_-Spot 24-_-CatId_37

Those apps are really great. I am using the Nintendo Wii for my free one month on Netflix. I got caught up on Breaking Bad which is my all time fav TV show. Anyhoo, having those apps right on the TV are nice that is for sure. The problem for me was the smart Sony was too much out of my budget. No way I'm using a credit card to buy that thing. When I paid cash for the one I bought the kid looked at me like I was a drug dealer. I said what's the matter never seen cash before? He just looked at me. I'll prolly get a call from the DEA tomorrow. LOL!!

well band with limits will stop me from using the smart tv' but I just scored a deal from a guy i work with on a pannasonic 32 inch flat screen for $150.00 its been used twice and still in the original box.

Sounds like you got a great deal. I just ran into a 40" Samsung smart TV for 597. Seened like a good deal to me but no doubt you beat that for sure.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7788596&CatId=4717

You might be surprised how little band width it takes to stream a video. I know I was.

Doc said:

Sounds like you got a great deal. I just ran into a 40" Samsung smart TV for 597. Seened like a good deal to me but no doubt you beat that for sure.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7788596&CatId=4717

You might be surprised how little band width it takes to stream a video. I know I was.

Click to expand...

Go bigger Doc. 50"or 55". Our old eyes need all the help they can get.

I was thinking 40" too, but when I went and looked at them and saw just how much more screen there is with 50" it was a done deal.

if I watched more movies I would have done that but I just watch a couple of hours a week and the kids don't need a 50 inch to play games on.