TV Brand Recommendation

[WbSearch]

Am finally replacing my 20 yr old TV due to incompatibility with my VCR, shop
advises repair cost outweighs practability.
Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider? The major brand names I
am somewhat familiar with, but there are many names I have not heard of prior
to shopping. I am in the US. Thanks in advance.

 

[Gary Tait]

On 18 Jul 2003 13:50:51 GMT, wbsearch@aol.com (WbSearch) wrote:

Am finally replacing my 20 yr old TV due to incompatibility with my VCR, shop
advises repair cost outweighs practability.
Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider? The major brand names I
am somewhat familiar with, but there are many names I have not heard of prior
to shopping. I am in the US. Thanks in advance.

Pretty well not Thomson related brands (RCA, GE, Proscan). Maybe stay
away from Chinese sets as well.

 

[Patch]

"WbSearch" <wbsearch@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030718095051.08493.00000111@mb-m20.aol.com...

Am finally replacing my 20 yr old TV due to incompatibility with my VCR,
shop
advises repair cost outweighs practability.
Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider? The major brand
names I
am somewhat familiar with, but there are many names I have not heard of
prior
to shopping. I am in the US. Thanks in advance.

Check with your local TV Tech. He knows which ones are junk. (most are) Or
buy a copy of Consumer Reports. Japanese made stuff is still pretty good.

 

[A E]

WbSearch wrote:

Am finally replacing my 20 yr old TV due to incompatibility with my VCR, shop
advises repair cost outweighs practability.
Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider? The major brand names I
am somewhat familiar with, but there are many names I have not heard of prior
to shopping. I am in the US. Thanks in advance.

Tough one. Since you kept your TV for 20 years, I assume you're the type of person
who buys once, for the long term. You didn't say how big the TV was, though.
Really, right now, I'd buy a 21 inch CRT computer monitor with an external tuner
box.
Why? Because you can get dirt cheap 21 inch monitors and they are likely to be
better than a TV of the same price.
Also, when HDTV hits, you have a 21 inch computer monitor, not a paperweight.
Just my opinion. It's just that I don't think you'll be able to buy a NTSC set
that will last 20 years anymore anyways.

 

[Jerry G.]

For watching TV in my living room I find a 20 inch display to be much
too small. But, you have a valid point for someone who wants only a 20
inch set.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
==============================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
Instruments http://www.zoom-one.com/glgtech.htm
==============================================
"A E" <aeisenhut@videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:3F181A86.849F6792@videotron.ca...


WbSearch wrote:

Am finally replacing my 20 yr old TV due to incompatibility with my
VCR, shop
advises repair cost outweighs practability.
Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider? The major brand
names I
am somewhat familiar with, but there are many names I have not heard
of prior
to shopping. I am in the US. Thanks in advance.

Tough one. Since you kept your TV for 20 years, I assume you're the type
of person
who buys once, for the long term. You didn't say how big the TV was,
though.
Really, right now, I'd buy a 21 inch CRT computer monitor with an
external tuner
box.
Why? Because you can get dirt cheap 21 inch monitors and they are likely
to be
better than a TV of the same price.
Also, when HDTV hits, you have a 21 inch computer monitor, not a
paperweight.
Just my opinion. It's just that I don't think you'll be able to buy a
NTSC set
that will last 20 years anymore anyways.

 

[WbSearch]

Apologise I forgot to mention that I am lookinig at 25 - 27 inch sets. What is
the situation with HDTV? Will regular broadcast be obsolete soon and I should
only consider HDTV? All I really want is stereo, remote with RCA for VCR
inputs, nothing fancy.

 

[Sofie]

WbSearch:
If you don't want anything "fancy" then don't pay the extra big bucks for
HDTV yet..... wait for the product to mature and the prices to come down.
The good news is that you can use whatever new analog television you
purchase for a long time to come.... eventually you may need a converter box
much like the cable boxes we all had decades ago...... also because of the
eventual digital conversion, the prices of larger screen, full feature
analog sets is at an all time low..... great time to buy and enjoy.
--
Best Regards,
Daniel Sofie
Electronics Supply & Repair
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"WbSearch" <wbsearch@aol.com> wrote in message

Apologise I forgot to mention that I am lookinig at 25 - 27 inch sets.
What is
the situation with HDTV? Will regular broadcast be obsolete soon and I
should
only consider HDTV? All I really want is stereo, remote with RCA for VCR
inputs, nothing fancy.

 

[Philip Pemberton]

In message <20030718095051.08493.00000111@mb-m20.aol.com>
wbsearch@aol.com (WbSearch) wrote:

Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider?
Pretty much any Thomson brand - RCA, Proscan, Thomson, Ferguson ("Thomson

Technology")...

The major brand names I
am somewhat familiar with, but there are many names I have not heard of prior
to shopping.
Check the labels - most of the "Made in Japan" stuff - that's Sony,

Panasonic, etc. - is still quite good. You can't really go wrong with a mid-
to high-end Sony. There's still a 28" Sony in the living room at home that's
roughly seven years old. The picture is still better than some modern TVs,
the Prologic sound presets are fun to play with ("Arena" is quite nice) and
it's only ever been serviced once - for a power supply fault. One minute it
was working, turned it off and it refused to power back up.

Now, as for laptops, avoid anything that uses one of those "barrel"
connectors for its power input. They don't last very long IME. I've got a
Compaq Presario 700 on the bench at the moment that needs a new PSU
connector. Then I need to work out where the one leftover screw fits...

Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn RiscPC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB,
philpem@despammed.com (valid address)| 6GB, video mods, 8xCD, framegrabber,
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | Ethernet (i3 Etherlan600), Teletext
Seen on T-shirts at NASA: WILL BUILD SPACE STATION FOR FOOD.

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider?

Buy only Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, Sharp, Hitachi, or Proton.

I am particularly fond of Sony as I am a firm believer in Trinitron, but the
others are very good and will cost less with comparable features.

Don't consider the rest, particularly RCA, Philips, GE, Apex, Magnavox, Funai,
Sylvania, and all the others. - Reinhart

 

[Steve Reinis]

I have a 1995 model Sharp 27" TV that was purchased new in 1995 and while
it's not loaded with features and the stereo sound leaves a lot to be
desired, it has a picture that just amazes me. I'm not about to swivel the
thing around to get th emodel/chassic at this moment.

I'm I tend to be very picky when it comes to CRT image quality since I
sit in front of two 21" computer monitors all day and work with various
others ranging from cheap shit to nicer Sun/SGI stuff.

This Sharp has just very rich, vibrant colors, great geometry, and damned
near perfect convergence all over the screen. No artifacts in the video,
very clear image. Never has it been in for repair, but lately I've noticed
that the picture starts to *slightly* *expand* when the A/C kicks on and the
lights dim for a second. I suspect it's just capacitors getting weak
because the image is rock solid all other times - even during high contrast
scene changes.

Anyhow, how often do you repair folks see Sharp TVs in for repair when
they've failed on their own (Not lightning, physical damage, etc). I have
really been impressed with the durability of this rather cheap set.

Just curious,
-Steve


LASERandDVDfan <laseranddvdfan@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030718184635.14711.00000120@mb-m02.aol.com...

Does anyone have advice of TV brands not to consider?

Buy only Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, Sharp, Hitachi, or Proton.

I am particularly fond of Sony as I am a firm believer in Trinitron, but
the
others are very good and will cost less with comparable features.

Don't consider the rest, particularly RCA, Philips, GE, Apex, Magnavox,
Funai,
Sylvania, and all the others. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Anyhow, how often do you repair folks see Sharp TVs in for repair when
they've failed on their own (Not lightning, physical damage, etc).

Not often. Many Sharp sets usually come in for problems caused by cold solder
joints, which happens to any television set. When the bad joints are located
and fixed, the set usually works again. Other than that, it's hard to think up
a situation where a Sharp set failed due to a defect that developed on its own.


Others here may be able to relate their experiences, but so far, I've been
impressed with Sharp as well. - Reinhart

 

[Deke]

"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@idontwantjunqueemail.walshcomptech.com>
wrote in message news:%S%Ra.93857$ye4.65839@sccrnsc01...

You don't mention Zenith/Goldstar/LG....what do you think of those sets?

Personally, I'd like to help keep the "little guys" in business and many
of
them sell Zenith around here...most of them are excellent and honest
repair
techs as well...so I don't think they'd sell junk sets.

William

Go see if any of them have one of the 27" flat screen Zeniths. It'll knock
your eyes out.
You'll get varying opinions about Zenith, and they have made some lemons.
On the other hand, I've seen some Zeniths made in Springfield, MO that are
20 years old, and will still throw an awesome picture. If your local
merchants sell Zeniths, buy one. And if you want to make the little lady
happy, they still make consoles. Buy with your eyes, and support your
local economy. Screw the discount chain stores, especially Wal-Mart.
Deke

 

[Clifton T. Sharp Jr.]

Deke wrote:

You'll get varying opinions about Zenith, and they have made some lemons.
On the other hand, I've seen some Zeniths made in Springfield, MO that are
20 years old, and will still throw an awesome picture.

Probably made before 1979. Seems like their sets got instantly bad around
then, and kept getting much worse until Goldstar guts went into them.

--
The function of an asshole is to emit quantities of crap. Spammers do
a very good job of that. However, I do object to my inbox being a
spammer's toilet bowl. -- Walter Dnes

 

[Dbowey]

Muntz is not bad for the money if you can fix them yourself.
Don

 

[kc8adu]

so someone bought the muntz name?
whos set are they rebadging?
"Dbowey" <dbowey@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030719210509.08528.00000188@mb-m20.aol.com...

Muntz is not bad for the money if you can fix them yourself.
Don

 

[bigmike]

"kc8adu" <nospam@spam.sucks> wrote in message
news:vhk9rbo05jsp61@corp.supernews.com...

so someone bought the muntz name?
whos set are they rebadging?

Muntz? I damm near forgot all about them

 

[Clifton T. Sharp Jr.]

LASERandDVDfan wrote:

Thinking about a new Magnavox, Sylvania, or Emerson television? They are
currently controlled by Funai

Sylvania isn't Philips any more? When did that happen?

--
The function of an asshole is to emit quantities of crap. Spammers do
a very good job of that. However, I do object to my inbox being a
spammer's toilet bowl. -- Walter Dnes

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Thinking about a new Magnavox, Sylvania, or Emerson television? They are
currently controlled by Funai

Sylvania isn't Philips any more? When did that happen?

Very recently.

http://www.funai-corp.com/

And it looks like Magnavox may not be owned by Funai after all. In this case,
they're probably still controlled by Philips, but a lot of their stuff is still
made by Fuani. - Reinhart

 

[bigmike]

Just go find a set with the picture and features you like. The differences
between all sets are getting less and less. There is no longer a brand that
knocks the others out. All brands have made adjustments to quality so they
can compete in price. That's about it...


"Deke" <denkellNOSPAM@starband.net> wrote in message
newsHgTa.58$uA5.4007031@twister1.starband.net...

"LASERandDVDfan" <laseranddvdfan@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030719170307.23760.00000148@mb-m27.aol.com...
Go see if any of them have one of the 27" flat screen Zeniths. It'll
knock
your eyes out.

Later on, look at the repair bill, it'll knock your wallet out!

A little joke.

Zeniths made in Springfield, MO that are
20 years old, and will still throw an awesome picture.

That's 20 years ago. We are talking about Zenith within the span of
seven
years. They made some good sets in the past, specifically during the
early to
mid 1980s. However, their sets from the late 1980s and up to now are
not
that
great. There are better, higher quality choices out there from Japanese
brands.

And if you want to make the little lady
happy, they still make consoles.

So does Thomson with some of their RCA console offerings.

Buy with your eyes, and support your
local economy.

If you mean supporting an "American" company, think again. Zenith is no
longer
an American company. It is now owned by LG, which is based in South
Korea, and
has been for almost five years.


No shit Sherlock. Didnt I say local economy?





Zenith is as much of an American company as
RCA is today. That point is quite valid as RCA is also not an American
company
anymore, being owned by Thomson, which is controlled by France. RCA
went
kaput
as a corporate entity in 1986 and was bought by GE. GE would later sell
RCA to
Thomson, keeping only NBC to themselves.

Thinking about a new Magnavox, Sylvania, or Emerson television? They
are
currently controlled by Funai, and they are one of the manufacturers
which
has
earned the title of being the epitome of cheap crap in my informed
opinion.


Thanks for the lesson in common knowledge information.





Screw the discount chain stores, especially Wal-Mart.

Now, now. Some, but not all, of Wal-Mart's offerings are decent. They
do
sell
Panasonic, just not a very good variety of that brand. For bargain
fodder
sets
at Wal-Mart, consider Sanyo or Orion. You might even consider Philips,
although I don't care that much for their current offerings at this
time.
The
rest that's there you can forget about. - Reinhart

They also sell Pioneer big screens, which are excellent TVs, but only from
their web site. What they have on the floor has paid the rent for many
repair shops, especially RCA.

Deke

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

If you mean supporting an "American" company, think again. Zenith is no
longer
an American company. It is now owned by LG, which is based in South
Korea, and
has been for almost five years.


No shit Sherlock. Didnt I say local economy?

First off, there was no need for profanity.

Secondly, what are you talking about in regards to "supporting the local
economy?"

If you mean the repair community, then okay, I can see where buying a Zenith
would be advantageous to certain people, but ultimately at the expense of the
customer.

They also sell Pioneer big screens, which are excellent TVs, but only from
their web site.

Then what's the point of buying a big screen from Wal-Mart?

You can't audition it without actually taking the plunge. You may have to pay
for shipping and handling. The set may get damaged in transit.

I'd rather buy a big screen from a store I can walk into and check it out for
myself than go through the potential hassles of ordering a set online. -
Reinhart