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Stealing it is not the way to get an HDTV. If you don’t know where to start, we have some tips sent in by DellMan94 to help you know what to look for when buying a new HDTV. HD is here to stay, that’s for sure. I know you cannot go back once you’ve used an HDTV.

• See it for yourself. If you have the opportunity to walk into a showroom and watch the television in action – and play with the remote – take it! The more you research by actually experiencing one, the better off you’ll be.
• Buy for your needs. In other words, buy the TV that is most suited for how and where you’ll be using it. Keep in mind, if you’ll be in an environment with controlled lighting, you can get whatever you want. If you’ll have low lighting, be aware of the type of screen on the TV you purchase.
• Don’t forget about the sound! Check out the speakers, and see how it sounds. You may even want to consider buying external speakers.
• Use the best connections. Use quality cable – even Fiberoptic if possible! Don’t skimp on the cables. The better quality you buy, the better your viewing experience will be.
• NEVER take advice from a salesperson. Don’t listen to what they tell you. They are trying to make a sale, even if it doesn’t match your needs. Do your research first. Know what you want, and what you can spend.

Remember that you can always head over to Geeks to do some research by getting the opinions of others. Also, before buying online always check out what coupons we have available.

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What’s the Best HDTV to Buy?

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It’s really a matter of personal preference when choosing one of these over the other. I personally prefer the Plasma screens, but I know many people who like the LCD more. Let’s take a look at some of the differences between the two.

With an LCD screen television, it has a much thinner screen and a smaller footprint. This means that it takes up less space generally on a tabletop or in an entertainment center. The Plasma screen tv’s tend to be much bigger. Be sure to keep the size of the space available in mind when shopping.

I feel that the image colors are much sharper and natural on the Plasma screens. With the LCD, they seem to be just not as realistic. They are either too saturated, or not saturated enough. I could never seem to find a balance that I liked.

Budget is a huge concern for most people. Always stick with what you can afford. Try to never go with “payment plans” for these items. Wait until you have enough money saved up to just go out and purchase one.

Most importantly, do your research. If you primarily watch sports, try watching a bit of sports on one of each of these televisions before deciding yourself which one is better. What’s best to your eyes, may not be best to mine, and vice versa. Never take my word for it, or anyone else’s. Make up your own mind, based on your likes, needs and budget.

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Should you buy an LCD or Plasma HDTV?

I have my HDTV (a plasma screen) set up as the monitor for my Mac Mini in my home office and it works quite well. “Velislide” contacted me this afternoon with issues related to his LCD HDTV connected to his PC, however:

I recently bought a 32″ LCD HDTV (Panasonic Viera Black) to replace my 17″ Dell LCD that I’ve been using. This beast has 2x HDMI In so Im using one with a DVI to HDMI cable that connects to my Geforce XFX 8600GT. Now if I look at text @ 720p resolution, with Sharpness at the middle point or turned up, the text looks VERY pixelated, and VERY hard to read, almost unreadable. I can also see like 3 or 4 mouse “shadows” around the mouse, overlapping each other. Basicly I have to turn down the Sharpness to -30 and it kinda of cleans up the pixelated crap, and makes it readable but not near what my friends 32″ LCD HDTV looks, and his is a VERY cheap one.

From what I understand from lots of reading and research, it has something to do with my Horizontal and Vertical refresh rates, and setting the Video card to match up to my TVs to get a HD quality picture. My xbox 360 looks about 100x better hooked up with Component, but sadly my video card doesnt have the Component out feature. I’ll take a high resolution picture of my screen sometime and see if I can get what the stuff looks like in the picture to give you a better Idea.

Also I read that the current drivers from Nvidia for the Geforce 8 series cards dont allow you to change the Vert/Horiz refresh rates w/ software? Not sure if this is true, but I’m all out of Ideas and have been trying steady for 3 days now to get this thing to come in clear.

I’m hoping I can get my 900$ 32″ LCD to looks at good as my friends 500$ LCD, otherwise I’m going to go insane.

Jake (Ludington) suggests: “Turn off any noise reduction built into the TV. Noise reduction does nasty things to text and is meant for use with video content only (if at all). Make sure the video card and television are both set to 1366×768, which is the recommended resolution from the manufacturer. Having either or both set incorrectly will result in nasty image quality.”

HDTV Deals:

• Boscovs - HDTV WebBusters (Posted on 12/11/09 and Expires on 12/31/15)
• Dell Canada - HDTV of the Week & More Deals on HDTVs (Posted on 1/23/10 and Expires on 12/31/15)
• WalMart - Free Shipping on all HDTVs w/ Site to Store (Posted on 2/22/08 and Expires on 12/31/15)

Using HDTV as PC Monitor

Christie West sent me an email earlier, with really smart links pertaining to HDTV, and how the world is preparing itself for the eventual demise of standard televisions.

From the National Telecommunications and Information Administration:

Households using analog televisions will not be able to receive digital broadcasts after February 17, 2009, unless the analog television is connected to a box that converts the digital signal to an analog format, or the analog television is connected to cable or satellite service. While converters may be important to connect some TVs, other viewers may not need or want converters, such as those who have digital televisions or pay TV service.

From DTV Answers :

DTV is a more flexible and efficient technology than the current analog system. The switch to digital broadcasting will enable television stations to offer dramatically clearer pictures, better sound quality and more programming choices. Under legislation passed by Congress – the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 – over-the-air broadcast television stations are required to turn off their analog channels on February 17, 2009, and continue broadcasting exclusively in the digital format.

From DTVTransition.org:

On February 28th 2007 the Digital Television Transition Coalition began fulfilling its mission to inform consumers of the February 17, 2009 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting. The coalition is comprised of business, trade and industry groups as well as grass roots and membership organizations that share an interest in a smooth transition. The core mission of the Digital Television Transition Coalition is to ensure no consumer is left without broadcast television due to a lack of information about the transition.

Guess I’m glad I’ve already made the HDTV leap. The only tube we have in this place is the one sitting in our exercise room, and the only reason it’s there is because it has a built-in VHS player (VCR, for those of you who can’t remember what VHS tapes needed for playback). I can’t even remember the last time I… hey, do y’all remember tape rewinders?

26, 32, 37, 40, 42, 50… HDTV hike!