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Buying a standard 4:3 TV soon, advice??

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Buying a standard 4:3 TV soon, advice??

Old 01-14-04, 04:20 PM
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Buying a standard 4:3 TV soon, advice??

Aside from the advice to not buy one at all that is

Anyway, I'll be replacing my bedroom tv soon (currently a 19" panny) and I'd like to get some thoughts on tv's out there in the market.

I'm looking for 27" flat screen for normal use which would include watching DVD's, sat tv, and playing gamecube games.

I cannot afford to have an HDTV ready set in my bedroom so I'm not looking for that. Just a great tv with an excellent picture and good reviews.

Budget would be cheaper the better but prolly around 400 bucks.

What features should I look for? Any brands to avoid?

Thanks in advance!
Old 01-14-04, 05:31 PM
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There's a philips 27" ($274.99) at Circuit City with some nice features. Also has 3 av inputs, 1 svideo and 1 component (nice for this price) I know some people on here compain about philips projection sets but their tube tv's usually get good reviews.

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...k_19&oid=70525

Last edited by PhYbEr; 01-14-04 at 05:34 PM.
Old 01-14-04, 05:32 PM
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A Sony Wega would be my suggestion. I've had a 27" one for around 4 years and love it. But it will be over your $400 limit.

My suggestion on that buget would be to forget a flat screen (as they cost more) and get a decent normal tube TV. Panasonic, JVS, and Toshiba all offer some decent 27" sets under $400 (and maybe even some 32" if you have room).
Old 01-14-04, 09:35 PM
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Originally posted by Josh Hinkle
A Sony Wega would be my suggestion. I've had a 27" one for around 4 years and love it. But it will be over your $400 limit.

My suggestion on that buget would be to forget a flat screen (as they cost more) and get a decent normal tube TV. Panasonic, JVS, and Toshiba all offer some decent 27" sets under $400 (and maybe even some 32" if you have room).

the sony kv27fs100 is on available at circuit city for 429, I could do that.

this one.

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...rk_5&oid=57605
Old 01-15-04, 12:32 PM
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I'd jump all over that.

It's actually less than $429. It's one of the hide the price things were the price doesn't show up until you add it to your cart.

Edit.

Just added it to check and it's $374.99.

That's a great price. I'd jump on that if I were you.
Old 01-15-04, 06:42 PM
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Originally posted by Josh Hinkle
I'd jump all over that.

It's actually less than $429. It's one of the hide the price things were the price doesn't show up until you add it to your cart.

Edit.

Just added it to check and it's $374.99.

That's a great price. I'd jump on that if I were you.
holy crap! i just went to pick up nfl street at my local CC and got a chance to check this set out, and sure enough it had the 374.99 tag on it!

now to find some reviews of it....
Old 01-15-04, 07:16 PM
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Originally posted by db27
holy crap! i just went to pick up nfl street at my local CC and got a chance to check this set out, and sure enough it had the 374.99 tag on it!

now to find some reviews of it....
Some reviews here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846
Old 01-15-04, 08:07 PM
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Originally posted by stevevt
Some reviews here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846
thanks! i read all of these and the ones over at circuit city.com

most confirm that there isn't a better value for a 27 flat screen.

curious about the 16.9 enhanced mode, so are all for it and others are less then impressed!

kinda wish it had picture in picture, but really not a big deal.
Old 01-16-04, 10:57 AM
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The 16x9 mode makes anamorphic dvds look MUCH better. Trust me.

Those complaining probably don't have the set calibrated with Avia etc.

Or don't know to set the dvd player to out put to a 16x9 mode, and to not turn on the 16x9 mode on the tv when watching a non-anamorphic disk, etc.
Old 01-16-04, 11:25 AM
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Originally posted by Josh Hinkle
The 16x9 mode makes anamorphic dvds look MUCH better. Trust me.

Those complaining probably don't have the set calibrated with Avia etc.

Or don't know to set the dvd player to out put to a 16x9 mode, and to not turn on the 16x9 mode on the tv when watching a non-anamorphic disk, etc.
cool, methinks this is the set for me!
Old 01-16-04, 07:20 PM
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Could you explain how to use the 16x9 mode? I have a 32" Wega and I thought when I turn it on watching an anamorphic DVD it would stretch to fill more of the screen but it doesn't seem to. I do have my DVD player set up for a 16x9. When I don't turn on the 16x9 mode the picture is looking stretched on the TV.
Old 01-16-04, 10:52 PM
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Originally posted by MrPink
Could you explain how to use the 16x9 mode? I have a 32" Wega and I thought when I turn it on watching an anamorphic DVD it would stretch to fill more of the screen but it doesn't seem to. I do have my DVD player set up for a 16x9. When I don't turn on the 16x9 mode the picture is looking stretched on the TV.
Exactly. If your DVD player is set to output for a 16:9 TV and your don't turn on the 16:9 mode of the Tv the image will stretch the height to fill the standard 4:3 AR of your screen. So TVs will auto detect the 16:9 signal and switch on it's own but if your's doesn't auto detect you must switch it for the image to be undistorted.
Old 01-17-04, 10:00 PM
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If you watch an anamorphic movie on a normal TV with the DVD player set to 4x3 TV, the DVD player down converts the image to fit by deleting every 4th line or so.

On a TV with the 16x9 mode, you turn the DVD player to output to a 16x9 TV, thus it is no longer set to down convert anamorphic images.

Thus when you put in an anamorphic DVD, the picture will be stretched vertically until you turn on the 16x9 enchancement.

What the 16x9 mode does is squeeze every single line in the picture a teeny little bit. This is why the mode is commonly referred to as the "anamorphic squeeze."

It gives you a much sharper picture and you get every single line of resolution (slightly squeezed) rather than every 4th line or so being deleted by the player.

Thus you were wrong in expecting it to fill more of your screen. It will fill the exact same amount, you just get a much better quality picture.
Old 01-18-04, 10:47 AM
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Cool, I'm probably getting one of these as well.
Old 02-16-04, 11:10 AM
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Got this tv (kv27fs100) at Best Buy this past weekend with the 10% mailings for $385 total with tax, plus I got the Rolling Stones DVD as a bonus (which is currently for trade in the exchange forum).

Loving it! Still tweaking things here and there, anyone with any links or info to maximize performance please let me know.

Also, I can't seem to program the remote for my dish network 322 box. Anyone else with this problem or know how to solve it?

Thanks!
Old 02-16-04, 03:10 PM
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The JVC 27" flat-screen (I forget the model) is the second rated in my latest consumer reports and JVC is one of the better review brands on epinions, audioreview, etc. Here's a link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....003&cmp=%20%20
Old 02-21-04, 12:51 PM
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Originally posted by westerbergrules
The JVC 27" flat-screen (I forget the model) is the second rated in my latest consumer reports and JVC is one of the better review brands on epinions, audioreview, etc. Here's a link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....003&cmp=%20%20
I also like the JVC (also like Sony tubes, but just another option). I had a 36" JVC for many years. It finally went out and I picked up a 32" model untill I decide exactly what I want to do. The JVC 32" should be in your price range (it is NOT however flat screen).

I always thought flat screen was a good thing if you were viewing at an angle? For a bedroom would that be of much benefit? I assum move TV watching would be done from a fixed position (bed).
Old 02-22-04, 12:14 AM
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what about the edtv samsung you can get for around $400.00, great set for the money imho.
Old 02-24-04, 06:36 AM
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Does Circuit City have the wrong model number for that JVC set? They list it as 27F734 but all I can find on the JVC website is a 27F704. Anyone know if those are the same TVs?
Old 02-24-04, 03:28 PM
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Wow, I hadn't thought of switching my DVD player to output 16:9. I tuned it so, and put on 16:9 enhanced mode on my Wega. What a difference!
Old 02-25-04, 01:46 PM
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Does that Sony Wega component input support progressive scan? I read that the JVC model doesn't although it has a component connection. I always thought component input automatically supported progressive scan but I guess thats not always the case?
Old 02-26-04, 02:26 PM
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To answer my previous question I guess it only supports 480i.

Based on the number of recommendations for the Wega sets my parents bought the 27" Sony Wega with PiP. The tube on their Panasonic died after 6 years. I showed them the 16x9 mode and it looks great.

Does anyone know of a way to turn 16x9 mode on or keep it on without going into the menus each time? A button on the remote would have been really handy.
Old 02-27-04, 08:34 AM
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Originally posted by philo
To answer my previous question I guess it only supports 480i.

Based on the number of recommendations for the Wega sets my parents bought the 27" Sony Wega with PiP. The tube on their Panasonic died after 6 years. I showed them the 16x9 mode and it looks great.

Does anyone know of a way to turn 16x9 mode on or keep it on without going into the menus each time? A button on the remote would have been really handy.
Some of their higher models automatically detect a 16x9 interlaced signal and switch automatically. Strangely enough, they don't switch automatically for a 16x9 progressive signal.

I just made a macro on my remote to handle the menus. I puch one button and it switches it over to 16x9 for me.

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