Buying an LCD TV

[crispygoat]

I am going to college next week and I want a TV for my room. I am looking for at 26" models. The main purpose for my TV will be to play video games (Playstation 3) and watch movies. I might also use it as a second monitor for my iMac, not sure about it yet. I barely watch TV and even then I do not watch sports. My choices have come down to three. Both the LG 26LG30 and the Samsung LN26A450 are 599.99$ and then there's a Sony KDL26M4000 for 699.99$.

First of all, I'd like to mention the service. The Samsung and the LG are are at the same store while the Sony is at another one. The employees at the first store (where the Samsung and LG are) are college students, and to be quite honest they are both idiots. One of 'em just doesn't care about his job, the other is just trying to be a salesman. He comes up with the idea that Gears of War will come out for the PS3, even though it's published by Micro$oft, and then he rants out how Sony sucks and Samsung makes the chips for Sony. Another funny story is how they tell me that there's a difference between a 50$ HDMI cable and a 150$ HDMI cable while on the the guy at the other store said that there's no real difference, and even there it wouldn't be worth it, so did another guy working at an electronic store told me. I don't even know if they fix the tvs there. On the other hand, the guy who sells Sony has been a bach. in electronics, has been selling / fixing tvs for over 20 years. He's honest about his products, and what you should buy or not.

Feature wise, they are mostly a like. The differences I found were mostly,

Samsung and LG have 3 HDMI inputs while Sony only 2. Now, My PS3 uses one, I might use my Mac from DVI to HDMI ? Other than that ? Is 3 really worth it ? And I mean my iMac is already 20" I doubt I will want to use it for a second monitor.

The Samsung response time is 8 ms, the LG is 6.5 ms, I couldn't find the Sony's.

The Dynamic contrast ratio is 2,500 : 1 on the LG, 9,000 : 1 on the Sony and 5,000 : 1 on the Samsung.

Sound wise, the LG has two 7 w speakers, the Sony has two 10 w while the Samsung has two 5 w.


Is the Sony worth the extra 100.00$ ? Which one would you choose ? All of them go up to 720p / 1080i.

For the full spec lists;

LG
Sony
Samsung


Thank you !

[heroincredible]

I'd go with the Sony.

[crispygoat]

Originally Posted by heroincredible

I'd go with the Sony.

uhmm why ?


Anyone else ?

[Chunk-O-Funk]

By the numbers the LG wins, but I would say Sony is the better manufacture out of all three. Samsung has been known to put out a good "bang for your buck" TV's and monitors though.

Response time, the lower the number the better. Good if you will be playing a lot of games and it also helps watching sports as well.

Contrast ratio. The higher the ratio the better. Contrast ratio is the difference between black and white. The only thing on this is there is no standardized way of measuring the contrast ratio so the number will differ from one brand to the next.

Sound wise, pretty much all flat panels, even the larger ones lack in sound quality.

The best thing to do is go take a look at them and see which one looks/sounds best.

I've had good luck with Sony products as far as quality and longevity goes. I don't know much about LG. Maybe you could poke around this forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ and see if any LG owners are unsatisfied.

[heroincredible]

My girlfriend bought that exact same TV recently, and we looked at a lot of TVs before getting that one. We checked out that Samsung one as well, but not the LG.

The Sony has better PQ, and a better contrast ratio. Response time is 8ms, same as the Samsung. The Samsung is still a good TV, at a better price (although we bought the Sony for $20 cheaper than the Samsung). 2 HDMI ports should be adequate.

As for HDMI cables, buy one for $10 off the internet. The only difference is what the cable is made out of, the PQ is exactly the same if you compare the $10 cable to a $150 cable.

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Originally Posted by heroincredible

As for HDMI cables, buy one for $10 off the internet. The only difference is what the cable is made out of, the PQ is exactly the same if you compare the $10 cable to a $150 cable.

+1
Best place on the internet for cables:
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

[BetterBottomEnd]

Try and find one store that has them all and see which one looks better to you. My money would be on you liking the Sony they consistently put out a high quality screen. The Samsung is generally a great bang for your buck TV. If you have the extra $100 to spend the Sony is worth it.

Especially with HDMI the cable doesn't matter that much because it's a digital signal and as long as the signal gets there its the same.

[sublimestylee]

Vizio is great cheap tv. just got a 37'' lcd and love it. they are america's top selling tv, and very affordable. i got mine at costco since their return policy is very liberal

[vbsurfer3001]

Slight Hijack!!

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM PHILLIPS MAGNAVOX!!!!!!!!!! Defective power boards, mine died at 18 months, it's a systemic problem with their products and they WILL NOT stsnd behind their products. Even if you HAVE the extended warranty, it will take 4 months to get them to send the part and get it fixed.

PHILLIPS MAGNAVOX SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

[doctorjazz]

I'd go with the Sony. It's a better TV, and if anything goes wrong the great service you get at that store could end up being worth more than the extra $100 you spend.

[crispygoat]

So Sony would have to be it, even though the price difference.

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by sublimestylee

Vizio is great cheap tv. just got a 37'' lcd and love it. they are america's top selling tv, and very affordable. i got mine at costco since their return policy is very liberal

Me too!

Since Vizio isn't on your list, I'd go with Sony.

[crispygoat]

So I went to the store, sounds like their shipment has been back ordered and they won't have any until the end of Sept.

So now it's between the Samsung and the LG ?

[Pilgrim]

I just bought my daughters each a PC with Media Center on it, so there was a tuner and DVR software built in. Worked like a charm - they didn't need a TV, they could use their computer for work and play. It was less expensive and kept the footprint smaller.

You don't need a separate 26" TV for a dorm room, and there may not even be room for it. Set your computer up correctly and just get a large monitor.

[L-A]

I have a soft spot for LG. I never had one give up on me, but it happened once to a friend of mine (it got repaired quickly since there is a service centre near and it was on warranty).

Both the Sony and LG are good choices IMO. If there's a good Sony store near your place, the additional 100$ might be a good choice, since they will service it with very minimal paperwork as long as you have your receipt.

[crispygoat]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

I just bought my daughters each a PC with Media Center on it, so there was a tuner and DVR software built in. Worked like a charm - they didn't need a TV, they could use their computer for work and play. It was less expensive and kept the footprint smaller.

You don't need a separate 26" TV for a dorm room, and there may not even be room for it. Set your computer up correctly and just get a large monitor.

My computer is good enough for movies and TV, it's because I can't use the iMac's screen to play my video games. Even there, I could buy another computer screen but then again, from what I read, I better stick with a television for gaming.

(Also the Playstation 3 has blu-ray.. don't know if I'll plan on watching blu ray movies.. but meh, we never know.

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Originally Posted by crispygoat

(Also the Playstation 3 has blu-ray.. don't know if I'll plan on watching blu ray movies.. but meh, we never know.

Something to consider.

If you want the best out of Blu-ray you should step up to a TV that will do 1080P. Much better picture quality, but will probably put you out of your budget.