Buying an HDTV: Home Entertainment Adventures

Well, having saved up about a thousand dollars, I decided that it was time to upgrade my ancient 20" tv set. I'd been waiting for quite some time because I knew I didn't want to just buy a cheap little replacement- I wanted to get something high quality that would last me for quite a while. Given the recent trend towards high-definition, both on local cable and television transmission, that seemed an obvious requisite. Also, I wanted an Xbox 360 and high-def TV is a must if you've got one. I knew I wanted to save space because it'd be in my bedroom, so a flat-screen was critical there, too. Price was a major factor- I'm well off, but not rolling in greenbacks- and performance right behind it. Size was the last concern, but I knew 32" would be my minimum.

My search began with my local businesses: Office Depot, Staples, Wal-Mart and a local electronics outlet. I was disappointed to find that most HDTVs were running from six hundred to a thousand dollars for the 32" size that I wanted, and I couldn't seen an appreciable difference between any but the very cheapest and most expensive. Six hundred at a low was acceptable, but I really wanted to see just how cheap I could get. I only had a thousand budgeted, remember?

My next stop was online. One word of advice: Froogle is your friend. Froogle.com, a partner site of Google.com. It's just awesome. You can sort by size, dimensions, cost ranges...whatever you want. I spent about a week running around Froogle until I found one I wanted for about 500 dollars. Of course, I hesitated too long, and ended up missing the sale. That was at tigerdirect.com, if you were interested. There's some good stuff there, but be ready to exchange about 1/4 of the things you buy. For some reason, I've had a lot of bad luck with their products, but their return policy is second to none and their customer service is just wonderful.

The TV I ended up buying was an ASTAR 32" from Newegg.com. I paid 700 dollars for it, 630 after a mail-in rebate. Now, I know what you're thinking- "But, Erik! There's a lovely 32" LCD HDTV on this website for only 450 dollars!"

This is where most of the time people fall into trouble. Remember, shipping will cost anywhere from 40 to 50 dollars on average. It's a 40 lb fragile container, after all. So now we're up to 500 dollars. "But, Erik! That's still 130 dollars cheaper!" Right, but I bought an extended 3-year warranty on mine. Newegg.com will cover virtually any damage or failure the TV incurs in that time frame. Check their warranty section for a full legal disclaimer before you go off and put your foot through a television set, but it's a very generous warranty for the price of 90 dollars. So, now, we're sitting at around 600 dollars for a TV set, and I was willing to take a margin of error plus fifty bucks, especially for the quality of the unit.

Now, I know the next thing you're going to say. "Why not buy from the store?" Well, if you can, that's great! But be careful of what you're buying. There are a few critical factors to consider when it comes to HDTVs, and I'll outline them now. None of my stores had sets that met the qualifiers I detailed out, and the ones I found online failed to meet these requisites.

Contrast Ratio: This is the measurement of the difference between the darkest and lightest points on your screen. It can range from 500:1 on the low side to 1200:1 on the higher side. A higher contrast ratio will ensure more dynamic colors and give images a more dimensional appearance, by highlighting bright areas and shading darker ones. My TV has a 1200:1 Contrast Ratio, which is towards the upper end of the performance scale.

Viewable Area: Make sure this shows the correct number. There's a difference between the dimensions of the set and the dimensions of the screen. Make sure that a 32" TV has a 32" screen!

Resolution: Resolution is the proportion of individual pixels from top to the side. Most cinema-style or widescreen units have a resolution of 1366 x 768. Higher resolutions will give you more detailed and visually appealing images.

Inputs: Inputs aren't as important, but they're important. If you intend to do anything with high-definition, you want to make sure that the TV set has what's called Component, or YPbPr/YCbCr. This is one of the current standards for high-definition imagery. Other useful components are Composite RCA, S-video, VGA, and HDMI, which is looking to become the next industry standard for high-definition images. The new Xbox Elite uses HDMI.

Response Time: This is the speed at which your TV will react to a given input. While this doesn't mean much to most casual users, for gamers it can be a real issue. My tv has an 8 millisecond response time. That means that there will be an 8 millisecond delay from the time the signal hits my TV to the time it is displayed. But if you're playing a game or using a computer system with a high latency and that's added to your TV, it can add up slowly. Again, this mostly concerns gamers and those individuals doing precision work. For most of us, it doesn't make a big difference.

HDTV Ready: This is a big tripping point for most folks. An HDTV ready set is just that- it's -ready- to be an HDTV, but it's not one yet. You have to buy a special tuner to install into the TV to make it HDTV compliant. And that costs extra money.

Signal Compatibility: Ok, this is where HDTVs get a little complicated, but this is also where you separate your HDs from your wanna-be's. There are four 'standards' for Signals: 480i/p, 720i/p, and 1080i/p. The numbers indicate the number of lines the screen can display, whereas the letters indicate either a higher framerate or higher resolution (faster image versus sharper picture). Most standard, CRT TVs can create a 420i/p image. LCDs and flat-screen CRTs can create a sharp, 720i/p image by virtue of their pixels per square inch. However, where you really get your true high-definition is in the 1080i/p range.

1080i is the standard for most HDTV signals you'll recieve, and 1080p is considered the highest 'true' high-definition. The difference between 720p and 1080i is definitely appreciable, especially once you go from a high-quality to a high-definition image (like a quality cable movie to a high-definition game). The difference between 1080i and 1080p is a bit more subtle, but you have to have it if you absolutely demand the best for your experience.

Other problems I ran into were TVs that were 'like new' or 'factory refurbished'. Refurbished can be an -excellent- deal, but make sure there's a warranty of some sort on it. Refurbished basically means that it was sent back to the manufacturer for some reason, whether it was a return, a repair, or a floor model or just overstock. Some of them are never even opened. The factory tests it and resells it at a lower cost. This can be a gamble, but I've had good experiences with refurbished items in the past.

Something else to consider is warranty. I wanted to make sure that I had a TV set that would be under warranty for quite some time- I was willing to spend ninety dollars to ensure my TV set wouldn't crap out in the first few months. And I wanted to buy new to make sure that I wouldn't get a lemon from some disreputable website. Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com both have outstanding reputations, as do a few other websites. Most sites controlled by major retailers are a good place to go as well.

The long and short of it was that I ended up paying a bit more than I wanted, but I got a stellar TV set that was absolutely top of the line, along with a great warranty package and prompt shipping to my door. Newegg is just a fantastic company to buy from, as I've purchased numerous items from them in the past. The biggest thing is -patience-. If you see a fantastic deal, that's wonderful, but check and double-check it before you make the sale. Don't buy a lemon or a broken old model, and STAY AWAY FROM eBAY. The odds are good that what you think is a great deal may actually be a unit someone's had running constantly for a year.