feedback on cheap 24" tvs

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CpuMan

Gawd
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May 6, 2005
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608
CpuMan said:
Any body have any feedback on which one of these might be better?
I only have about $250 to spend. The tv will also be hooked up to a computer using a hdmi cable for viewing movies saved on the hard drive.
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Good news and bad news.

The bad: smaller TV's have TN panels with poor viewing angles, which means they are not the greatest choice for TV use due to all the color shifting and everything else. To be sure you're not getting a TN panel you'd have to look into 32" sizes and up.

The good: It's deal season for TV's. That $250 will soon be able to get you a nice 32" TV with a VA panel and much better viewing angles. You'll have to keep an eye peeled at some hot deal sites, especially slickdeals.

Most of these 32" TV deals will be 720P @ 1366x768, very decent for TV use, but there will be a few 32" 1080P below $300.

The question is if you have enough space to accommodate a 32" and if are you're able to wait for a deal?

- http://slickdeals.net/forums/
- http://bensbargains.net/
- http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/
- http://www.techbargains.com/
 
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Yes I can wait another month. Thanks for the tip on VA panels.
If 720p is almost as good as 1080p for tv viewing than I'll consider that also.
Thanks for the feedback.
CpuMan
 
Whatever anyone does.... DO NOT GET THE WALMART "Extended" TV WARRANTY..... BELIEVE ME FROM EXPERIENCE!!!! NEVER get that thing, EVER. What a pain to get my money.... they lie and cheat people BELIEVE ME.

It took months and they still never gave a new TV (the local walmart store was 100% useless with their own warranty! Bought at the same exact store too....)

I have heard good things about squaretrade though for extended warranties, so use them if you plan on buying a junky brand TV for a cheap price (not recommended).

Get a Vizio if you cannot get a Samsung/Sony/Toshiba..... Emerson, RCA, Polaroid (the worst), and all those low end brands are just worthless and a waste of cash in all aspects!
 
If you can, try to save up another $100 more and get a quality 720p unit. You'll be much happier.
 
I would definitely not get either of those at the walmart... they are junk no-name brands for the most part.

I highly recommend this over almost any other for your price range....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003ES5B6S

$248.99 + qualifies for Free Shipping, Free 30 Day TV Returns (UPS home pickup) and the TV Low Price Guarantee.

I am ordering it soon, and it will probably last longer than my 17" Viewsonic LCD since this one is of better LED technology

Viewsonic is a popular, quality brand if you haven't ever heard of them. Very popular with graphic designers and stock brokers. My primary monitor is Viewsonic and Ive had it for years. Don't believe me though if you want, just read the 5 star reviews :)
 
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Thanks for the continuing feedback guys.
I am leaning towards waiting for a deal in the coming month for a 32" T.V. for around $250-$275 with a VA panel, based on SJetski71 comments.

Although if the price and the quality is right maybe I'll take a look at the smaller Viewsonic also.
 
CpuMan said:
Thanks for the continuing feedback guys.
I am leaning towards waiting for a deal in the coming month for a 32" T.V. for around $250-$275 with a VA panel, based on SJetski71 comments.

Although if the price and the quality is right maybe I'll take a look at the smaller Viewsonic also.
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As long as you keep in mind what i said earlier about smaller "TV's" having poor viewing angles. It's one thing using a TN as a monitor, but it can/will be annoying using one as a TV especially if you move around or sit in different spots etc.

Personally i'd wait for a name brand 32" in the upcoming sales; sony, samsung, toshiba, panasonic, LG, sharp, vizio, even zeniths are rebadged LG's. You can always purchase an inexpensive SquareTrade extended warranty afterwards (lots of 30% Squaretrade coupons can be found online).
 
Luxor said:
I would definitely not get either of those at the walmart... they are junk no-name brands for the most part.

I highly recommend this over almost any other for your price range....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003ES5B6S

$248.99 + qualifies for Free Shipping, Free 30 Day TV Returns (UPS home pickup) and the TV Low Price Guarantee.

I am ordering it soon, and it will probably last longer than my 17" Viewsonic LCD since this one is of better LED technology

Viewsonic is a popular, quality brand if you haven't ever heard of them. Very popular with graphic designers and stock brokers. My primary monitor is Viewsonic and Ive had it for years. Don't believe me though if you want, just read the 5 star reviews :)
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Like I have told you before, LED-LCD is LCD. The backlight will have a longer life span but there is no change for the panel because it is still LCD.

I would watch for a 32 myself, working in retail myself I have come to believe that this year will be some deals. We will see in a couple weeks though for sure.
 
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walwalka said:
Like I have told you before, LED-LCD is LCD. The backlight will have a longer life span but there is no change for the panel because it is still LCD.
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what's even funnier is that most so-called LED-lcd's are just edge-lit, and do not make the picture look better than standard CCFL backlights, and oftentimes it makes them look worse than CCFL, clouding etc etc.
 
I would tend to agree sir, I can't stand LED-LCD TVs. I would buy an LCD before I would ever buy an LED-LCD.
 
walwalka said:
I would tend to agree sir, I can't stand LED-LCD TVs. I would buy an LCD before I would ever buy an LED-LCD.
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Another thought, since by far most LED-LCD's are the edge-lit type, you can pretty much say that "LED is not better than CCFL" or "CCFL is better than LED".

LED has been degraded to the point of just becoming another marketing gimmick.

Sure it's not telling the whole story, but it's closer to the truth than you'd hear otherwise.
 
Marketing gimmick I would tend to believe, Now I wouldn't say either one is better honestly. However Sony's edge-lit LED-LCDs are way better then their CCFL counterparts. This year that is.
 
What do you guys think of the 32" Dynex's on sale for $260 at Bestbuy?,

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&p=[promotion%2C+synonymns]&pu=defaultusr&pt=1287464401

Edit: Well I I caved in and picked this TV up today, Still have not unboxed it. If I do not like it or find a better deal, I have until January to return it for a full refund. I'll post later on what I think of it once I get it up and running.
 
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CpuMan said:
What do you guys think of the 32" Dynex's on sale for $260 at Bestbuy?,

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&p=[promotion%2C+synonymns]&pu=defaultusr&pt=1287464401

Edit: Well I I caved in and picked this TV up today, Still have not unboxed it. If I do not like it or find a better deal, I have until January to return it for a full refund. I'll post later on what I think of it once I get it up and running.
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It's really hard to argue with considering the price and return policy. And like you said, if you find something better in the meantime then you have till January to return it. I would keep an eye peeled for upcoming deals btw, especially on name brand sets.

Note that i highly recommend getting the 4 year extended warranty, only $49, and the service behind it is rated as adequate or better. Flat panel TV's are notorious for breaking down, you wouldn't want to be stuck with a dead set after just a year or two.

Take note of the model number on the box and keep it handy. BestBuy has three Dynex models with nearly the same model number so you wouldn't want to get them confused if you ever research it online. All of them use VA panels FYI, likely manufactured by AUO, which is not a bad thing if it is true.

Let us know what you think after you've tested it, we can also help out if you have trouble with PC settings, overscan etc etc.
 
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SJetski71 said:
It's really hard to argue with considering the price and return policy. And like you said, if you find something better in the meantime then you have till January to return it. I would keep an eye peeled for upcoming deals btw, especially on name brand sets.

Note that i highly recommend getting the 4 year extended warranty, only $49, and the service behind it is rated as adequate or better. Flat panel TV's are notorious for breaking down, you wouldn't want to be stuck with a dead set after just a year or two.

Take note of the model number on the box and keep it handy. BestBuy has three Dynex models with nearly the same model number so you wouldn't want to get them confused if you ever research it online. All of them use VA panels FYI, likely manufactured by AUO, which is not a bad thing if it is true.

Let us know what you think after you've tested it, we can also help out if you have trouble with PC settings, overscan etc etc.
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I did not get the extended warranty, but I think your right and will get it, $49 is worth it for 4 years.

I have the Model: DX-32L152A11

I was hopping for the 150 or the 151, but all they had was the 152.

So far the picture looks pretty good. Just got it set up late last night so have not had a lot of time playing with it.

I have 3 inputs connected to it. Off air antenna, directv (component video in no HD channels on directv subscribed) and a hdmi connection from my gts 250 to it. One thing I noticed is the hdmi connection from the pc to the tv is not carrying any sound, but that may be a problem with the gts 250 not sure yet (maybe driver issue).

Everything else is working so far. Will play around with it more today.

Any tips on PC settings or overscan you would like to share are more then welcome.

As you can probably see this is my first hd flat panel tv set. I am a bit behind the curve in my house as far as tv's go. Probably because I am an old timer (50 years old) and my old crt tv's looked just fine to me, until the bedroom tv finally crapped out. I have to admit these new tv's in HD look tremendous.

Thanks again for all your help.
 
CpuMan said:
Any tips on PC settings or overscan you would like to share are more then welcome.
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As for picture quality settings and improvements, you would probably stick to the TV menu for that, and not mess too much with video card settings. BUT, if you are getting overscan, or underscan with black bars all around the picture, then you will need to delve into your video card control panel and look for a setting called "overscan compensation" and move the slider till you have a sharp and filled picture.

There's a chance you may have to harmonize a specific TV menu setting to work in conjunction with your video card overscan adjustments, this makes things more complicated of course. Just take note of whatever settings you changed in case you have to reverse it later on.

Don't mess with it however if your PC image currently looks 100% clear, sharp and filled.

Edit: almost forgot, make sure your video card is outputting 1366x768 @ 60hz refresh, otherwise your TV will be upscaling or downscaling a lower quality picture, and turn your troubleshooting into a nightmare. <-- let us know how this aspect works out for you.

Unfortunately i can't help with hdmi audio over nvidia graphics.
 
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SJetski71 said:
As for picture quality settings and improvements, you would probably stick to the TV menu for that, and not mess too much with video card settings. BUT, if you are getting overscan, or underscan with black bars all around the picture, then you will need to delve into your video card control panel and look for a setting called "overscan compensation" and move the slider till you have a sharp and filled picture.

There's a chance you may have to harmonize a specific TV menu setting to work in conjunction with your video card overscan adjustments, this makes things more complicated of course. Just take note of whatever settings you changed in case you have to reverse it later on.

Don't mess with it however if your PC image currently looks 100% clear, sharp and filled.

Edit: almost forgot, make sure your video card is outputting 1366x768 @ 60hz refresh, otherwise your TV will be upscaling or downscaling a lower quality picture, and turn your troubleshooting into a nightmare. <-- let us know how this aspect works out for you.

Unfortunately i can't help with hdmi audio over nvidia graphics.
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Thanks for the tip on making sure the video card is outputting 1366x768,

because in the nvidia control panel it was at "HD, SD, 1080p, 1920 x 1080 (native)". I had to scroll down to "PC 1360 x 768" Now text look great, clear and sharp.
I do not seem to getting any overscan, or underscan either so everything is looking good so far.
 
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