Need a Good Recommendation on HDTV

[DGibFen]

My dad's birthday is coming up and the family was looking at getting him an HDTV set. Because of price and things like that, we are looking at something around 800-1000 dollars at the most, but I'm sure I could talk them into something a little more expensive.

The only thing I've seen is that Zenith with the built in HDTV receiver that was purchased in another thread. One question: Does it do more modes than 480p and 1080i?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

EDIT: Is this Samsung 30" Widescreen DynaFlat Digital TV (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1069302293832&skuId=6251726&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03002) a good deal for 999.99?

[Gil Jawetz]

I was going to get the Samsung TXN3298HF (planned on it for months) until I started hearing some bad stuff about it, plus the only places around here that have it don't have them set up so it would have been a blind buy. In the meantime I heard about the Zenith C32V37 and checked it out. Looked good in Best Buy but the video feed was crap - not HD. Still, I picked it up and it's being delivered Saturday. That'll be the real test. I've heard nothing but praise for this TV.

[Gil Jawetz]

One more bit of advice: I think a 32" 4:3 set is a better bet than a 30" 16:9 set. If you compare the two at this site (http://www.cavecreations.com/tv2.cgi) you'll find that the 4:3 set has a much, much bigger 4:3 image while the 16:9 images are roughly the same between the two. Of course, the 4:3 set will show widescreen images with black bars but that shouldn't bother you!

[Sdallnct]

If you can get to the $1,300-$1,400 range you will open up to the world of rear projector CRT TV's. Especially with a sale you can get a 42" to perhaps 48" CRT RP TV in the $1,300 range.

But if you really want to stick to $1,000, you will have fewer choices.

[Iron_Giant]

Originally posted by DGibFen
My dad's birthday is coming up and the family was looking at getting him an HDTV set. Because of price and things like that, we are looking at something around 800-1000 dollars at the most, but I'm sure I could talk them into something a little more expensive.

The only thing I've seen is that Zenith with the built in HDTV receiver that was purchased in another thread. One question: Does it do more modes than 480p and 1080i?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

EDIT: Is this Samsung 30" Widescreen DynaFlat Digital TV (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1069302293832&skuId=6251726&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03002) a good deal for 999.99?
My Zenith HDTV shows 1080i and 720p on some of the different HD Channels. The 720p (I think it was ABC) looked great. I do not remember what the SuperBowl (CBS) was broadcast in, but it was fantastic, it really did make the SuperBowl even better because of the picture and the true surrond sound.

[Gil Jawetz]

I now have that same TV (Zenith C32V37) and think it's wonderful. I'm going to write up a semi-review in the next couple days with my many likes and few concerns.

One quick note: I believe it doesn't show 720p native but upres's it to 1080i. That's still better than, say, Samsung, which flat-out gives a blank screen on 720p. But still something worth knowing.

[excelsior]

I have the Samsung 32 inch HD and I would warn against it. Anything that is not DVD or HD is crap. I have massive amounts of dot crawl on VHS and Direct TV and even on a few DVDs. None of this was a problem on any other tv.

Worst purchase I ever made. I only use it now for DVD.