For people looking for a (HD)TV

[DirtySouth]

I know that there's been a couple of threads about folks looking for new TV's, and there was some discussion about HDTV's, well, Wal-Mart now has 2 very reasonably priced 32 inch HDTV's, a Sanyo for $699, and a Philips for $799. Yes, they are pretty low end (especially the Sanyo as they realy skimp on the input jacks), but they ARE high definition, and as such, have a gorgeous picture at 1080i. Those are pretty good prices as most other 32'' sets I've seen are in the 800, 900, and thousand dollar ranges. If anyone is still looking for a TV, check those out. I'm not sure if they are on the wal-mart.com website, but they are in stores. XBox and GC games in progressive scan look mighty tasty.

PS: the Philips is better with the input jacks, with lots of component, a VGA, and some other "digital" jack which I'm not quite sure of yet as I didn't get a good look at it.

[K3V]

Are they 16:9 sets or just 4:3?

[Glass Joe]

Does every HDTV do 480i,720p,and 1080i or do they have to specify what they have?

[youandwhosearmy]

Y'know my mother just bought a panasonic last year t 480i, for 699, and I kept saying, HDTV, and she kept saying no.

I should have told her to wait on the TV cause I really want one.

[burgundy]

How bad do older non-HD consoles look on an HDTV?

So bad that you'd rather play them on an older TV?

Or is it that they just don't look better?

[DirtySouth]

Originally posted by K3V
Are they 16:9 sets or just 4:3?

They're both 4:3. They do have a 16:9 one in, but it's 47'' and $1,380

Originally posted by Nigel-the-Landstalker
Does every HDTV do 480i,720p,and 1080i or do they have to specify what they have?

All are 480p/1080i. I don't think there's a 720p capable set that's available below $1,000 at the moment.

[Mr_Furious]

Philips isn't a bad brand of TV but I'd stay away from Sanyo.

[skelly]

Originally posted by burgundy
How bad do older non-HD consoles look on an HDTV?

So bad that you'd rather play them on an older TV?

Or is it that they just don't look better?

The vast majority of people won't have a problem with how their older consoles look on an HDTV. A few will be put off by image sharpening, edge enhancing, and a bunch of other junk some models do to the picture that you sometimes can't turn off.

Personally, I had one very bad experience. It seems some games have perceptible input-lag on the Sony 34XBR800. R-Type (from R-Types, PSX) was the game I tested most, and it ruined the gameplay. I tried various workarounds to fix the lag, but it was no use.

So, whenever I get in the market for an HDTV I'm definitely going to try various games on the floor model before I buy. Annoying, but could save later headaches.

[Shine]

Prices will continue to drop sharply on projection HD's as plasma begins taking it's foothold. Give it two more years or so and then I'll consider getting one (if I've put enough away )

BTW thanks for that BenT. Also when getting a 16:9, does playing games and such in 4:3 damage the screen?

[Tones]

Shine, periodic 4:3 won't hurt it, as long as you don't use it a lot. We have a 47" widescreen in the other room, and we just put it on the justified mode, where it stretches a 4:3 image to fit the screen. Basically, the center is normal, but the edges are slightly skewed. I can't even notice it anymore, because peoples' faces are typically centered, and that's the area that's normal. It doesn't look as nice as the original aspect ratio, but it's not like the sattelite feed (through s-video) is great anyway, so no big deal.