zuffy

I don't know too much about LCD TVs but I know I want to get one for the bedroom wall-mounted. I have checkout Costco, Bestbuy, Circuit City, Crutchfield. The first three has some 26-30" LCD TVs for less than $1K. Brands like Westinghouse, Sceptre, Norcent Technology... are those any good? Should I avoid any particular brand?

I will mainly watch sports, movies, and possibly hook it up to my PC as a second display. With the LCD TV wall-mounted, it will go very nicely with my Apple 23" LCD monitor.

benfiltness

Best Buy runs some really and i mean really good Westinghouse deals...

Costco has a 26" LCD from Maxtent for $800...

DVD Josh

27" Olivea / Syntax at CompUSA for $700AR. It's a POS, IMHO, FWIW.

zuffy

I don't want a POS. I want something decent. So far, I went to CNet and lookup the Norcent Technology one from Circuit City. Got some crappy ratings vs the ratings from reviewers in Circuit City's website. The ratings wasn't too good for the Syntax / Olivea ones too.

I couldn't find any on the Bestbuy Westinghouse models. So far, it looks like I might go with the Sceptre X30SV-NagaIII from Costco.

zuffy

I think I'm gonna up my budget a bit and try to get the Samsung LT-P266W 26" LCD.

Anyone know how the Samsung LT-P266W compare to the Samsung LN-R268W? Both of them are 26" LCD HDTV-Ready. The LN-R268W seem to have the better spec but cheaper?

Spiky

Just got Costco coupons yesterday. Samsung 23" down to $800 in a couple weeks. Proview 32" down to $900 a month from now. (that's their new house brand, not sure who actually makes it, it's supposed to be decent)

And a Sceptre 37" with HDMI and 1080p resolution only $1700 in August. I realize that's well above a grand, but 1080p in this price range?? Awesome!

zuffy

I wish Costco would have the deal for the Samsung 26" instead of the 23". Just from reading numerous reviews, I think I'm gonna bypass the lowend LCDTV and go with the Samsung LN-R268W. The specs are just better than the LT-P266W even though the LT-P266W has the better style.

zuffy

Looks like I really narrow it down to this time. Which one would you pick? The Samsung LN-R2668W or the Panasonic TC-26LX20?

zuffy

One more thing. Where can I purchase an affordable tilt and swivel arm wall-mount that will support at least 40lb?

zuffy

Well, I end up buying the Panasonic TC-32LX50 32" LCD via my co-worker's Panasonic employee discount for $1570.07 including tax. The bad news is that it will not ship until 7/22 I have no idea why Panasonic don't have stocks of their own equipments for their online service.

Funny how I started out looking for a low end LCD TV for less than $1k and then changed my mind numerous times. Thought I was gonna settle for a mid-level 26" LCD for a little over $1300 and now I went and got a mid-level 32" LCD in the $1500 range

Spiky

What's affordable to you? Pretty much all the ones I've seen are at least $70. But not all of them look sturdy, so you'd have to shop them at least a little. I couldn't tell you a brand name or anything, but they sell them everywhere. Perhaps they are cheaper on Ebay or something.

Spiky

Sounds normal to me.

zuffy

I guess affordable is $200 or below. My brother-in-law bought an arm wall-mount from a customer at cost for $200 for his Sony 32" LCD. It can handle up to 150lb. The problem now is I don't think my wall can support all that weight (46lb for the LCD and approx. 15lb for the arm). My bro-in-law said when the contractor mounted the his LCD in the wall, he put like 3 2x4 from floor to ceil inside the wall to support all that weight.

At least my gf was following alone with my indecisive mind

Spiky

I don't think 60# is a lot to hang on a wall. Put it into studs and you should be fine. I haven't quite shopped them yet, but many mounts have a big plate attached to the wall which spreads out the weight so it isn't just on the anchors. Might not be considered attractive to the females, but in my house she'll just have to deal with it. I'm planning on a 23-6" LCD mounted on a wall this coming winter for my bedroom and will have the same issue. Need to get rid of the bulky CRT.

There are 24-27" CRTs hung all over the world in dentist offices, etc. and they weigh more than a 32" LCD panel.

I'm thinking maybe something like this for me, if I can find a cheaper one. Here's Omnimount's smaller one, should be plenty.

zuffy

Oh cool. No wonder I was having problem searching for LCD mounting brackets. I was constantly going to the TV wall-mount section.

Stupid question. How do I find the studs in the wall?

Spiky

A stud finder?

Course, I've never tried one that actually worked, maybe if I tried an expensive one it would be different. I just tap around until I hear and feel the difference. The studs feel more solid, the rest of it feels and sounds hollow.

namlook

I have the Syntax 27" and use it as a computer monitor and some HD OTA watching. As a computer monitor it's fantastic, especially for the price. The picture is bright, clear and sharp. I noticed better quality text with VGA for some reason. Using VGA it looks fantastic for computer use. Also for HD it looks really good to me. Obviously there are better TVs but someone looking for a budget LCD will be very happy with the 27" Syntax.

zuffy

I just got my Panasonic TC-32LX50 32" LCD. It's beautiful