I'm looking to get a large flat screen television (37"-42") in the near future, but not necessarily for high-def. I don't want to upgrade my cable anytime soon, I just want the larger television and the extra space that comes with a mountable flat screen. I've read that LCD tvs don't handle standard tv so well, so do you think, for my purposes, an EDTV plasma would be the better way to go. I know HD is going to be the standard relatively soon, but for me right now and for the near future, HD isn't a necessity and the EDTVs are proving to be quite a bit cheaper.
Also, any suggestions/recommendations on a specific television? I've seen the recent plasma vs. lcd thread and I am intrigued by the Olevia 37" Syntax, but I'm leaning towards a plasma EDTV at this point. Any help would be appreciated.

5/24/2006 2:56:06 PM

go HD. EDTV's are terrible in nearly every aspect. You can get 42" HD Plasmas starting at 1400 bucks.

5/24/2006 4:10:22 PM

Yeah, but this is about the only HD set I can swing right now:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1881471&CatId=387

Don't know anything about Harsper and I'm a little wary of buying off off-brands. And I just don't want digital cable right now. Is there any way that I can keep standard cable from looking like crap on a HD set?

5/24/2006 4:33:22 PM

I bought my parents a Hisense brand HD Plasma (42") from Tiger for christmas, it was the same price as the Harsper (the harsper has better specs though) and they haven't had any problems with it that aren't user error or old people issues.

The 37" Olevia LCD is another excellent option and frankly I'd choose that over the 42" Plasma unless you just want a physically "bigger" screen.

5/24/2006 4:56:15 PM

even from a nontechnical point, why bother getting EDTV and needing to upgrade to fully take advantage when you want HDTV? better off just spending a tad more now.

5/24/2006 5:54:52 PM

At this point going with an EDTV would be like having waited till dvd's came out to get a S-vhs player (or buying a DVHS player NOW.)


The 37" olevia is pretty nice and feels fairly large.

http://www.plasmahouse.com/SYNTAX-LT37HVS-PLASMA-TV/LT37HVS.HTML

Free shipping and only 1159.95. It's a beautiful screen too.

There is a very nice 42" olevia too and at a fairly resonable price.

http://www.plasmahouse.com/SYNTAX-LT42HVI-PLASMA-TV/LT42HVI.HTML

Even though you might not have heard about Olevia either, they're not an off brand and I'd trust them a whole lot more than Harsper without a review or something. The specs do look decent though, and if you can find a couple people to vouch for it being good that harsper might be a good deal.

If you want a LARGE screen more than anything else, and 1600 is above your price range, just go for a DLP.


[Edited on May 24, 2006 at 6:05 PM. Reason : ]

5/24/2006 5:56:49 PM

Why the hell do you always link to plasma house?

You can get a 37" Olevia LCD from Tigerdirect for several hundred less, in town. Okay so it ain't on sale at the moment. I've seen it at $899 at Tiger onn several occasions though.

[Edited on May 24, 2006 at 6:52 PM. Reason : . ]

5/24/2006 6:50:37 PM

no, you've seen the 32" on sale for that much.

5/25/2006 2:41:49 AM

http://www.bensbargains.net

BTW, HDTV...more "futureproof"

5/25/2006 3:19:39 AM

^^nah the 32" has been as low as 699, maybe im just imagining on the 37" though

5/25/2006 9:31:28 AM

I think so. I end up linking to plasma house because they don't charge tax, have free shipping, and usually end up with the lowest total price on olevia stuff...

The tiger direct on capitol doesn't have (last time I went) the 37" olevia in stock, and if you ordered it off their site you're going to pay both tax and shipping so...

Quote :

"You can get a 37" Olevia LCD from Tigerdirect for several hundred less, in town."

Is wrong. Even if you were to get it in their store, after tax it's still cheaper from plasma house. 1175.95 > 1159.99

Sure it's not a big difference, but if the store on capitol doesn't have it in stock (like they have any time I've gone there) shipping makes it pretty large.

[Edited on May 25, 2006 at 11:36 AM. Reason : ]

5/25/2006 11:20:35 AM

You don't have to pay shipping if you buy the item in-store. I bought several big screens in-store and only had to pay tax.

Good call on the tax though. They have pretty miserable ratings for customer service and future purchases on resellerratings.

5/25/2006 11:44:45 AM

^ yeah but they almost never have that olevia in stock. At least I've never seen it in stock. Do you know if they let you order for in store pickup? I mean that'd be the best way to go about it really.

resellerratings.com does seem to like plasma house pretty well (overall score) for the last 6-month ratings at least. Lifetime ratings are about the same as tiger though.

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2974.html

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1983.html

Heh, but yeah if you want good service it doesn't really seem like either store is a good option. Both of them have scores in the high 3's for that and scores hovering around 5 for likelyhood of doing buisness again.

[Edited on May 25, 2006 at 12:18 PM. Reason : ]

5/25/2006 11:58:37 AM

Thank you for all the responses. I do like that 37" Olevia. But how shitty does standard def cable look on an HDTV? I really don't see myself upgrading my standard cable until the "official" switch in 2009. Any way around the crappy display of standard on HD?

5/25/2006 2:20:20 PM

If all you are going to watch is standard cable, why bother with a TV upgrade? Just get your basic Samsung CRT for a couple hundred and be done with it. If you can't afford the extra $10-$20 a month for the cable then don't waste anything on a TV.

5/25/2006 2:23:21 PM

Quote :

"Any way around the crappy display of standard on HD?"

Yea get a hardware line doubler, or run it through a PC first to do scan conversion.

And Charlie: with almost no exceptions you can order anything from tigerdirect to be delivered to the store without paying shipping. And if you bitch about it, even most of the exceptions can be shipped free.

5/25/2006 2:49:56 PM

^^ Because almost all the local chanels broadcast their most popular shows in HD. Also, WRAL news in 1080i is kind of freaky. Maybe he wants to see the sweat beads in anchors' hair.

5/25/2006 2:57:49 PM

msb2ncsu: For the reasons I stated in my first post--I want the bigger screen with the flexibility that a flat screen LCD or plasma offers (i.e. mounting on a wall, lighter weight, overall look and design). I'm not the biggest videophile, but I do enjoy a large screen television. It's not that I can't afford the extra money per month for HD, it's the fact that standard doesn't bother me and I don't have much interest in HD programming at this time. Just want a large, flat screen television that can display a decent picture of standard def cable. I can wait for HDTV.

^Noen, I really appreciate your help.

5/25/2006 3:12:25 PM

^you should REALLY pick up an OTA tuner off ebay (the Zoom ones go for 20-40 bucks) and a decent indoor antennae. You can get 7-10 OTA HD channels in the RDU area. Which to me, makes it worth getting an HD set alone.

5/25/2006 5:41:32 PM

yeah, I didnt want to deal with the antenna and just got basic cable. basic cable and a qam tuner gets you all the ota channels with better quality without having to mess with an antenna. I also needed an upconverter and upconverting dvd player. I lucked out and got it all in one package

5/25/2006 6:05:59 PM

stupid question, hdtv

5/25/2006 7:20:44 PM

^^It may be less hassle, but you get better Quality OTA. QAM, at least from time warner is compressed.

5/25/2006 7:26:08 PM

here in raleigh you really need to get HDTV.

WRAL shows almost everything in HD (including newscast)

5/25/2006 9:28:22 PM

Quote :

"msb2ncsu: For the reasons I stated in my first post--I want the bigger screen with the flexibility that a flat screen LCD or plasma offers (i.e. mounting on a wall, lighter weight, overall look and design). I'm not the biggest videophile, but I do enjoy a large screen television. It's not that I can't afford the extra money per month for HD, it's the fact that standard doesn't bother me and I don't have much interest in HD programming at this time. Just want a large, flat screen television that can display a decent picture of standard def cable. I can wait for HDTV."

Oh, I knew what you said initially... my point was that it just seems like perhaps now is not the best time for you to invest in this upgrade. If the majority of the pro's are things that are not a factor it just seems a bit... wasteful. If you could eek out another year or two with your standard CRT it seems like you'd have your optimal solution, especially if money is somewhat of a concern. You are paying a premium for technology that you don't plan on using.

5/25/2006 11:32:40 PM