Buying a new TV

[Maxon]

With my Dad being laid up for a long while when he comes back home from the hospital after being gone for 4 months, we are looking at tossing this junker tv in the living room we have that has bad sound and is getting that weird purple coloring on the side like when you stick magnets to it, though there is nothing around it.

I figured something like a 30" flatscreen would probably do and went to Best Buy to browse some brands.  Unless it's on sale, a 30" to 37" is around 400 to 600 dollars, 500 bucks probably being our optimal price range.  I picked out the best brands such as Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, and LG, but I'm not too sure about the features I should be looking at since I've never owned one before.

The TV will be used for regular cable, I might occasionally hook up my PS3 too it for Blu-Ray, but it's not something that'll be around long since I'm gonna sell it, and I want to make sure it'll be good for my 360 so I can hook that up for my games.  I don't really know if it's worth getting like 720p or getting 1080p or if I need 60hz or 120hz.  I also believe I have to grab...HDMI cords for my 360 to play them at those settings also?

So what TV's should I look at getting that are durable, good quality, and can play my 360 well with a price range of about 400 to 600 bucks?

[Squishy3]

Samsung (IMO) is the best brand of HDTVs on the market, if you can find something within your price range that's 120 Hertz, I'd say go for it, it makes a difference but it's not absolutely necessary. Check all the picture options, make sure you're satisfied with what you can edit on there. As for 360 it can display HD hrough the component cables (if you have an original pro model you should have component cables) if not you can get an HDMI cord for around $5 from monoprice with shipping included. As always, look up reviews and stuff on the model you're looking at, see if it has any problems that might pop up, etc

[Live-Free-Or-Pie]

Wait a little longer, word is that prices for TVs are gonna drop soon:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/21...drop-soon/

[K2]

All of the brands you mentioned make good TVs; I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. I don't really like 120Hz, but that's more my personal preference. With regards to the Xbox, the difference in video quality between HDMI and the component cables you should already have will probably be unnoticeable on a TV that size, but if you don't have component for some reason or just would prefer a simpler setup definitely get your HDMI cable online; retail stores jack up the prices an insane amount. Either use monoprice or just search Amazon and sort by lowest price.

[Maxon]

Thanks for the help guys.  My Dad will be back by the beginning of October, so not sure if I want to wait and see if it's happening for the price drop later on, but it depends on what I'm finding or if I get a sale deal now.  I'll definitely give Samsung a look.  Off to browse some reviews now.

Also does 720p or 1080p matter much or is more the hertz since I didn't see anyone mention it.

[Versus]

1080p matters more than Hz.

[Eightball]

I will say this: 1080 on the PS3 looks great. Too bad out of the maybe 10 games I have access to, only 2 of them even support 1080. Everything else is 720 :\

[BS1]

I will say this: 1080 on the PS3 looks great. Too bad out of the maybe 10 games I have access to, only 2 of them even support 1080. Everything else is 720 :\

Then there are those "1080p" games that aren't truly 1080p; like 960x1080 instead of 1920x1080.

I'm not a fan of the "120Hz" feature in TVs. The feature screws up most videos for me so I end up turning it off. I don't even think there is a real 120Hz TV out yet anyway. 720p vs 1080p only matters for the size of the TV and how close you'll be to it. You'll be finding that most 32" TVs are 720p though.

I have yet to buy an LCD HDTV though. I have an old CRT HDTV and it's picture quality is so much better than most of the LCDs that my family owns.

[Kirby]

[quote author=Eightball link=topic=5012.msg175270#msg175270 date=1285394460]
I will say this: 1080 on the PS3 looks great. Too bad out of the maybe 10 games I have access to, only 2 of them even support 1080. Everything else is 720 :\

Then there are those "1080p" games that aren't truly 1080p; like 960x1080 instead of 1920x1080.

I'm not a fan of the "120Hz" feature in TVs. The feature screws up most videos for me so I end up turning it off. I don't even think there is a real 120Hz TV out yet anyway. 720p vs 1080p only matters for the size of the TV and how close you'll be to it. You'll be finding that most 32" TVs are 720p though.

I have yet to buy an LCD HDTV though. I have an old CRT HDTV and it's picture quality is so much better than most of the LCDs that my family owns.
[/quote]


CRT's have always been the ugly-duckling. My 2nd monitor (old CRT primary before I got my widesceen) could pull 1600x1200 @ 120Hz, and its picture is just as sharp and crisp as my LCD

[at0m]

the only problem I have with CRTs is that they're hueg