As a Christmas gift to the family, my husband and I have decided to get a new television. As I am not much of a television watcher, I was leaving it up to my husband to do the research and pick one out, but I am very conscious of the fact that he is not the researching type, and will often wait until the last minute and then just buy something on impulse. I have asked him some leading questions about what sort of television he's looking for, what kind of price range we're looking in, etc. but he's been rather vague.
So, in an effort to help in the shopping process, I was wondering if anyone has any television advice. What brand? What kind of connections or features should we be looking for, etc.? Are there other factors that we should be thinking about when choosing a tv? We have an old gaming device that gets used on occasion (PS2) and we have a dvd/vcr combination that we also use. I do believe that my husband is hoping to get HD/dvr along with the new television, but again, he hasn't actually made any moves toward doing any of this. Things like this always seem to be a big investment to me, so I like to make sure I'm making the right choice rather than the "this is what I can find right now" decision.
If you've got advice, I'd be very grateful for some input.
We have an LG Smart TV, which we got from Sears. It is HD, LED screen.
It was on sale.
We went at right time.
Any Sears person, will really help with any questions you have while there.
You should really, get a "Smart TV."
We bought ours (a Philips) off Amazon, free shipping plus it was cheaper than in any of the stores. I'd pick what you want, then check online to see if you can get a better deal.
My husband is the electronics guy in our house. We have replaced all of our TVs over the past few years, moving to flat screens. We have three LG HD LED TVs, the largest being the 47-inch one in our family room. I was resistant to the change as I don't watch TV much anyway but wow! What a difference! He bought them all from a small, local dealer and to my surprise, actually saved up and paid for them a little at a time (sort of like layaway). I think the largest one was around $500. We've had them all for over a year and so far, so good. We had no issues hooking up things like the PS3, Wii, Blue Ray player, DVD player, cable, receiver, laptop,camera, etc. to any of them.
I agree with the advice below to get a smart TV. Non-smart TVs will be obsolete soon.
If the room you are putting it in is dark, a plasma has the best picture. But they have glare on the screen if there are windows in the room.
If it's a room with windows, then you want an LCD or LED. They are similar, but LED is newer technology that uses less power.
I went to Best Buy and asked a lot of questions. Told the salesperson I did not know what back-lit LED meant, or any of the other terms for that matter, and I got a really good education, not just a sales pitch. If the store is not willing to teach you about the new televisions, go somewhere else! One interesting thing I learned was about the actual plastic border that goes around the screen. The rep pointed out that some were shiny, and some were a flat, matte surface. She showed me how the shiny borders could often be distracting and annoying, so the one we got has a matte, non-shiny border. The HD/DVR will probably come with your cable provider's equipment, not your tv, in my experience. And check with stores in your area about delivery and set up offers. Some stores offer free delivery and set up when you spend a certain amount of money. If you're not too familiar with HDMI cables and tv set up, then free delivery and set up might be worth it. Also, we learned through research that sometimes the basic cables that come with a tv are not good enough quality. We spent a few extra dollars on a better HDMI cable and we can tell the difference in the picture quality. And remember that tv size is measured diagonally. Use masking tape or painter's tape to simulate a tv that is, say, a 50 inch diagonal screen. You might be surprised how large or how small it looks in your room or on your tv stand. Seeing a million TVs on a wall in a store is very misleading. Think about where you're going to put it. Do you have a large enough stand or entertainment center? TVs are heavy! Will you need to anchor it to the wall? Do you have a safe place to put it? If you need a new stand or table or entertainment center, be sure that it supports the size screen you want or plan to buy. Also, some new TVs are so thin that audio quality suffers, so you might want speakers if the sound quality is not to your liking.
As others have mentioned you are in for a treat. A smart TV is so much more then something to watch "TV" on. You can access nearly any movie ever released on DVD in seconds for a small fee from amazon.
Not to mention netflix, hulu etc. You may become a TV watcher with all the intelligent choices you'll have. Do not buy another dvd player, we have our old one, just in case but honestly haven't used it in months. It's an exciting time for in home viewing especially for those of us who aren't interested in the big cable prime time stuff.
We got a 42 inch LCD Vizio from Costco which is has served us well and was less than $500. As music lovers, we spent a LOT more on the stereo system and surround sound that really adds to the viewing experience. I think you'll be amazed at what TV has become the last few years, have fun!
Vizio from Costco.
We love it. It is a "Smart TV"
Great Picture, easy to set up.
No Roku Box Needed
We researched,
We compared.
We went to almost every sports Bar we could find and spoke with the managers about their giant TV's, how long they had them, how many hours they had them on.. They told us about what TV's they had that were not so great and their favorite TVs..
Almost all TVs today will support almost all external components. My only advice is to get a smart tv. That's one that has an onboard network interface card and software that is usually preloaded with the most common apps- like youtube, amazon prime, netflix, hulu, etc. It's the future. I think that DVDs and blurays (outside of the actual collectors) will be a thing of the past in the near future. And not far behind it is cable programming and satellite providers. Streaming is the trend and it's not stopping. I have smart tv and find that I haven't put a dvd in the player in well over a year.
Also, my overall experience with Samsung customer support for a variety of appliances and electronics has been absolutely horrible. On the other hand, Sony's customer service has been exceptional. This is very important when purchasing expensive electronics. Our Sony Bravio (which we love, love, love) had some display problems recently. With our horrible experiences with Samsung customer support in the past, I was preparing for the worst. We explained the situation, and a brand new replacement TV showed up at our door two days later. No hassle, not hemming or hawing.
Finally, when we were purchasing our TV we wanted the HD-LED/LCD due to the energy star savings. Our TV stays on a lot when we're home. :)
As you are looking at TVs, the best time of year to buy is coming up. Make sure to check out deals the week before Black Friday. We found the best deals then as opposed to after that date.
Hope this helps!
You will have to buy all new devices. When we got a new TV the old stuff wouldn't even work. We had to get a newer model, DVD/Blu-Ray, so it would be compatible.
You might use the old TV for the kids in another room where they can watch DVD's, hook up the game player, and watch old tapes.
BUT for a new TV he'll have to buy all new devices.
We bought several new TV's and this is what we looked for.
Wide screen capabilities
HD
Internet options, full package, smart TV.
The TV you get will be what you have for a long long time. We have Samsung and Vizio. I can't say if customer service is good or bad, we've never had any issues...
I think the size is what throws people. We got a flat screen TV a while back and as soon as we got it home we realized is was not much bigger than a computer screen. Seriously, it was like a 20 something inch screen but it didn't feel large.
So get the biggest TV your room will support. A small living room CAN have a big huge TV. It's pretty easy to get used to being able to see the smallest details. I love our new TV. It is mounted on the wall and we can tilt it, swivel it so when I am sewing I can watch it, and I can comfortably sit in any place in the room and have the screen pointing at me.
I think you'll have fun with your new TV. But do believe me when I say your old device will not match with it. A good DVD/Blu-Ray can be purchased for under $100. It's the next step up. Go for it.
Is the TV going into a room that is darker than the rest of the house or is there tons of natural light? Plasma TVs have a much better picture in darker rooms, they're designed this way. LED and LCD TVs view better in brighter rooms. Ok, that's that.
As mentioned get a Smart TV with built in wifi (granted you have wifi in your home). The newer TVs may or may not have coaxial hook-ups (the kind that screw in with a single thin wire in the middle). So depending on how old your dvd/vcr thing is it may not work. There may be adapters for it though.
Spend the money on a name brand top tier TV.
My only advice is to anchor it down very well with a product made for it, and to limit its use.
