Advice on TVs?

So, it appears our TV has bit the dust finally.  At least, we have picture but no sound, and our other TV is working fine.  This one is old, one of the big heavy ones with the picture tube in back.  I guess I'll probably get a new one, but I don't want to spend a fortune and I don't need one of those big ones. 

I haven't shopped for a TV in ages.  Even our other one upstairs is one of the older ones. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should look for? Or avoid? Any brands that are better than others, or that I should avoid?

Will appreciate any advice, I'll probably start looking this weekend if the sound doesn't magically come back on it's own

Funny, my 25" tube type went out a couple of weeks ago.  I am now watching a 13" tube type color TV.  My friend in Florida says to get an LED type, as opposed to a LCD type.  Something about how the screen is lit.

One thing I would avoid is getting a TV and DVD combo.  Those type have two components to go out instead of one.

Measure the space you want to put the TV, but don't buy one so big that you are sitting too close to it.  Also, look on the side for cable hook-ups and controls that will be covered if you don't have enough room.

We replaced our old TV in the family room with a 51" Samsung Plasma and we just love it. But we're big TV watchers so we really get a lot of use out of it.

Flat screens are pretty reasonably priced and do come in sizes besides huge and OMG. I have a nice 33" Toshiba that set me back just over 200 bucks with tax. I did want to go bigger but I just don't have the room - it's between the china cabinet and the door and overhangs into the doorway a couple of inches (very small house with bitty rooms).

Measure your space because you can go up at least a couple of sizes when going to a flat screen. As to what to get, watch a few and whatever one you like the picture and controls on best, buy it.

We got a 47-inch JVC for the living room. We put it up on the wall and have all the wires and cords in the wall, so we don't see them. We have another JVC in the bedroom; that's a 42-inch. 

My only advice is to actually watch the tvs in the store. Look for a picture that you really like. Listen to them. 

And bigger is not always better. If you're interested, I can dig out a Consumer Reports and see what they say.

I have a 42" Samsung HD Plasma.  I love it.  I got it "free" when I bought my bedroom furniture. I put the word "free" in quotes because I'm sure they built the price of the TV into the price of the furniture.

I really like it. However, the one thing that bugs me is the fact that for some reason my cable company (telephone company) seems to have problems with the volume control on Samsung TV's.  Often times you can press on the volume button to raise or lower the volume, so hard that you could dislocate your thumb, and not have the volume adjust. My TV in my bedroom is an older Sony flat screen TV with a picture tube and the volume adjusting is very easy. My brother also has cable through the phone company, and he has a different brand TV, and the volume is also easily adjusted.

I would like to replace the 33" Sony with a Plasma, if only for the ease of being able to move the darn thing.  That Sony must weigh 100 pounds!

Winchester said:

And bigger is not always better. If you're interested, I can dig out a Consumer Reports and see what they say.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, but I do have an online subscription to Consumer Reports.  I was looking at it last night, but it seems not all that useful.  So I thought I would see what you all thought based on actually owning one

Thanks everyone, good advice throughout.  I have a LG monitor that I like, but maybe some issues with the TVs? 

We have quite a bit of space sideways, but not a lot foward so that's why I don't want a really big screen.  That and cost.  I think I will just find a sale somewhere and go check out what they have.  I'm not real fussy and don't need a lot of bells and whistles.  Also not a real big TV watcher, just nice to have something there and have it on for company sometimes, and a few shows I like to watch.  We have the small one upstairs and DH says that's enough, but as long as I'm the one working, if  I want a TV, I'm going to get one

When my small bedroom TV hit the skids last summer, I put my 25" TV in the bedroom and then replaced that one with a 40" Toshiba.  I am very happy with it.  Like someone else said, just look and listen and see what suits you best.  Once you get a flat screen, you'll love it.  Everything looks so much better in HD.
 

I got a 42" LG LED a little over two years ago.  I always have the TV on when I am home even if I'm not really watching it, kind of a form of white noise.  I have had no problems and it still has a really nice picture.  I got a surround sound bar with it and that makes a real difference with the sound.  One piece of advice that was given to me before I went shopping for one is that all TV's in the showroom look a lot smaller there than they do in your house.  Unless you have a very large room it is possible to get a TV that is too big because you can't get far enough back for the optimum picture.

I got a 32" RCA with a built-in DVD player last August, and I like it. Yeah, my dad pointed out that having a DVD player built in means 2 things that can go wrong. . .but from what I read, the TV part is more likely to break than the DVD part, and they aren't really repairable, and they aren't designed to last long anyway (probably nobody is going to have a 20-year-old LED/LCD TV like we all have had old tube TVs). So I figured it wouldn't be much of a problem. And I really like not having a separate DVD player. Plus, at the price I'd be happy with a few years out of it.

This is the one I got: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00856XE5E/?tag=&tag=thecatsite