2. home-theater
  3. 1348846142

WHAT TV SHOULD I GET RIGHT NOW?

After 14 years my Toshiba 36in. TV seems to have heard the fat lady sing.
so now with about 45-48 inches of space i would like to get a nice piece
of AV furniture and get a top-rated (picture quality 1st) TV on it.
Panasonic gets an enthusiastic rating. that, along with a salamander cabinet
underneath (i really would rather not wall-mount the set) would "seem" to be
one of my best options.
SO before i go insane shopping around, and especially with new
technology coming onto the market every 2-3 years, i am open to suggestions.
Thanks for any input. P.S. the room doesn't get direct sunlight.
french_fries

Showing 2 responses by french_fries

french_fries OP
815 posts
 
Thank everyone for some great responses. i DO need to watch from an angle at times, so plasma seems to be the best choice. as for a nice piece of furniture,
should i just get a salamander cabinet or try to be more "creative"? the cabinet could cost as much as the TV. which is OK, But i don't want to find ANYTHING
where the manufacturer cut corners. Salamander does offer casters as an option which is a necessity- i already have 4 things that have to get hooked up, and counting.
Of course i now just look at the Toshiba set with all of its built-in conveniences and the great cabinet it comes in and feel a little blue...
french_fries OP
815 posts
 
the Panasonic ST50 series plasma has an optical (toslink) digital output, and i have an old-fashioned sony home theater set with two front floor-standers with built in amplifiers and two small rear speakers. go ahead and laugh.... but it has a built in center channel, subwoofer, and IR wireless communication to the rear speakers. the remote has all kinds of settings too. and it has two sets of stereo inputs for a separate cd player (or whatever). it's not great for music but for Lord Of The Rings it's really great. ANYWAY, i searched for and immediately found, for $50 or less several toslink to rca-stereo D/A converters (and they throw in the cable, too). i was VERY concerned that Panasonic decided i already had a new
A/V receiver and that would handle all of the audio. maybe they should bundle one for an incredibly cheap price! i for one find those monsters with countless inputs (for all the cheap wire you plan to use) more than i can handle, at least at this point. anyway the tv should sound fine by itself, and the converters get favorable ratings, so "voila" - no problem.
BUT.....my old TV is now sitting in the garage- i have to put it out in front of the house tomorrow for the county to pick it up (it's now designated as bulky waste).
not a scratch on it, a nice wood veneer cabinet, glass doors underneath, etc.
what if it rains? Just because it doesn't work anymore, this is no way to treat my old trusty TV set!! i am kind of upset over this...
More to discover