bishop2knight

I'm in the market for a new television. Considering space (36" is about all the room I could afford) and money (I have around $1500 to spend, give or take a couple $100) I'm leaning toward a 36" Sony Wega. I love the anamorphic capabilities. I'd like to get a widescreen television, but the ones I've seen are out of my price range, and from what I've seen, they don't have 36" 16:9 televisions anyway.

So, let's say I do indeed decide to get a 36" tube tv, what I need to decide is whether or not I need to get the HD ready version, and if I should get the PIP option. What do you think? Is the HD ready option worth an extra $500? Is the PIP option worth an extra $250?

Right now, I'm using my 27" television for DVDs (70% of the time) and sports (20%) and regular tv and cable (10%).

Any help would be appreciated.

mljones99

I saw one at Best Buy the other day. Might have been 38" widescreen... but I think it was a little more than what you have to spend... but it was a really sweet tv.

knit-witt

The only HD set close to your price "range" that I know of is the Toshiba 40H80, a 40" RPTV. Pricescan.com has it listed for a little over $1800 at a couple of places. Everything else I know of (HDTV wise) is quite a bit more than that. I can't help you at all with the Wega's, I just don't know anything about them.

RoboDad

mljones99 is right. There is an RCA 38" direct view widescreen TV at Best Buy, but it is priced at $2999, which sounds like it is probably quite a bit more than you want to spend right now.

As far as PIP goes, I rarely use it, but I know some people who really like it and use it frequently. I doubt I would spend $250 more on any TV just to get PIP.

The HD-ready question is a completely different issue, though. If your only primary goal is to be able to watch anamorphic DVDs at their full resolution, then you probably don't need an HD-ready set. The anamorphic squeeze mode of the Wega (or VVega, as some spell it) should be more than adequate. However, if you are planning on keeping the set for more than a few years, you may want to plan ahead, and spring for one that is HD-ready. It is really a tough call, and one that no one can really know the answer to except you.

Indy Jones Fan

Space-wise the 40 inch widescreen Toshiba isn't much larger, if any, than a 36 inch tube T.V. that is sitting on a stand. Knit-Wit is right, I've seen it for 1800.00 on several online sites. If you are watching DVDs 70% of the time you would probably get more enjoyment out of the widescreen. PIP isn't worth a dime in my opinion.

bishop2knight

I'd agree that a widescreen television would be the best bet....but for the money? I mean, the 36" Wega's range from $1400 to $2000. For that price, would I be getting a mediocre widescreen TV or one with the same quality pic as the Sony?

Indy Jones Fan

The Toshiba 40H80 if teamed up with a true progressive scan DVD player(about 600 bucks) would blow away the Wega in my opinion. I've seen the Wega's in the stores and have never been impressed. The scan lines are very obvious. Granted the sets in the stores have not been calibrated but neither have the 40H80's I've seen and they look great. Also keep in mind that HDTV will become standard eventually and the HDTV-ready 40H80 will be ready and waiting to display the 16:9 picture.

knit-witt

I agree with Indy, given the choice of Wega or the 40" Toshiba, I'd go Toshiba all the way. Your mileage may vary...

Frank S

First off you will pay FAR more then $500 more to go from a regular Wega to a HDTV Ready Picture Tube TV!

Secondly the picture from a Toshiba 40" HDTV will be Quite a bit better then a SD Wega will ever produce! The Toshiba 40" HDTV has a Internal line doubler that eliminates the scan lines and give you a film like look to your DVD's and HD viewing as well. Also the Toshiba has a much higher resolution picture then the Wega and if you have Satellite you can enjoy HDTV right away as well as any OTA HD programming from your local networks as well. If your local CBS is doing HD now you could have watched the Superbowl, a couple Golf Tournys, The NCAA Final Four Basketball, and all but 2 of CBS's primetime shows!

Red Dog

My roommate just got his HD converter on Saturday so we could watch the Masters. It looked great but the problem was that they had so little camera coverage (not until around hole 12) and their angles were pretty bad. Therefore, you didn't see the leaders each day until an hour into the broadcast. On top of that, you were saddled with Don Criqui as the play-by-play announcer (maybe the worst announcer ever) instead of the Nantz/Venturi team. I can't watch the Masters without hearing Ken Venturi. I watched the HD broadcast for about 10 minutes (watching guys 6 strokes behind the leaders) and said enough of this and watched the regular coverage on my own tv.

HD is great for the prime-time shows, but there are serious issues that they have to work out with their coverage of sports (if the Masters is any indication).

Frank S

You obviously didn't see this years' Superbowl or Final Four basketball because if you did you wouldn't have made this statement!

Red Dog

Maybe, but any golf fan has to admit that the HD coverage of the Masters was seriously lacking.

Indy Jones Fan

Com'on Red Dog, Do we really NEED HD broadcasts of golf tournaments?

JaxComet

I guess I'm confused. So it's not just an improved picture over the original? Why do you get different announcers, etc.??

Movie_Man

Because they are actually 2 completely seperate broadcasts.

It seems to me that they should be able to only use HD cameras, then downconvert for standard television. But hey, what do I know about broadcasting?

Red Dog

It is like watching 2 different networks provide coverage. Different cameras. Slightly different graphics. Different announcers. Whole separate production. HD coverage only on the last 7 holes (so you don't see the leaders until later in the broadcast). The one positive of the HD broadcast was no commericials, but this really isn't an issue with the Masters anyway because the commericial breaks are minimal anyway.