If you are in the market for a 40" LCD, what would you buy?

DarqueKnight

univera wrote:

I like the fact that they opened the box and added packing material and it shipped from them directly and was in stock. When I received it and saw the box was open, I was immediately suspicious. I called, left a message, and the owner called me back and explained that had he not opened it and put in additional packing, it would have never made it in one piece.

Yeah, I wish the company that sold me my Hitachi plasma would have been that smart. This damage occured to a tv that was strapped and braced in an upright position on a wooden pallet and transported by truck. :mad: The dealer sent out a replacement tv the next day, which made it safely.

Extra packing might not have made much difference in this case. The box had been ripped open at the top and sloppily resealed with tape. Maybe someone had attempted to steal the tv and let the empty box continue on its journey.

AndyGwis

I love my Westinghouse 32". Don't even have HD programming going to it. Standard cable PQ is okay, but DVD's look great, it's very, very good for it's price, and it's WGA connection makes for a GREAT monitor.

I just hook up the $14 WGA high rez ferrite core cable to my laptop and it auto-calibrates the settings for optimal viewing.

The SONY I'm sure bests it in every way, but the price is probably 2-3X as much too. Depends what you want, best quality/functions or best value.

Also, I must add that I'm biased because I got my Westinghouse which retailed for $1299 at the time for like $500 out of pocket.

polkatese

DarqueKnight, thank you for sharing those pics. In fact, I was talking to Onecall's CSR to understand their policy on returning item with inside damage, after it was signed off for acceptance. Onecall will take it back within 72 hours upon delivery, although the policy was a bit murky on damages incurred on the way back to them, since the customer (presumably) alter the packing conditions (less secure) compared to when it left the factory.

univera

DK, interesting as your packing pieces look like mine did. There were broken pieces of styrofoam along the sides. One of the packing straps had broken loose and the bottom of the box wasn't being held in place. I was very relieved that it wasn't damaged.

polkatese

To close the loop on this subject, I ended up bought a Sony Bravia LCD KDL-40V2500 (1080p), this past weekend, from BB. Just finished tweaking last night. So far so good, quite a withdrawal from watching an Direct View tube XBR.

Btw, anyone has custom setting on the Sony that they can share? I'll share mine too once I am done with tweaking it, this coming weekend.

sickicw

Congradulations...
check the first page of this thread for my settings. My tv is a higher end model, but some of the settings should carry over.

The basic thing that people have said about this tv is to choose the custom settings and turn off as much processing as you can. Also, pick the "wide" color setting. good luck

polkatese

well, after tweaking it over the weekend, I thought this LCD is superb. It may not have the floating panel look, but pic is equal to its XBR2 more expensive sibling, which is what I care of, since it is a bedroom unit.

sickicw, thanks for the custom settings, I followed it and has a couple values difference based on my taste, but 85% of the settings is consistent with your recommendation.

Now, it is time to shop for a Tosh's XA2, or maybe a Sony's BR?

MikeC78

Sharp is highly rated for their LCD's. Suppose to be one of the best from what I hear.

Mike

EDIT: I see you already got the Sony. To late! : )

sickicw

I just ordered a HD_A1 for Tosh. Got it for about $360 from amazon's site. If you care about the new high def audio and have analoge inputs into your receiver, get the hd-a1 while you still can (they are about gone). If you have the money ($1000) then the XA2 will be better. As for blu-ray, i might end up getting a playstation 3 just for the blu-ray player, but will probably wait until they put out some good movies in blu-ray format.