How do you shop for a display?

[jayn_j]

This is a serious question. Most of the mid to high end stores around here have closed, leaving me with the BB, CC and Wally-world options. If I go into any of these stores, I am faced with the wall of TVs, all of which are daisy chained off a single source, all of which are set as hot as possible, and none of which have remotes available. I can't even tell how they are daisy chained because they are hard mounted and the connections are hidden. I suspect it is component off a splitter as the pictures are at least shown in 16:9.

I see heavy edge enhancement, way too much contrast, soft picture detail and a lot of ambient light interference.

How the heck do you choose a set under these conditions? With literally dozens to choose from in any given size, what can the consumer do to figure out which is the best set for his needs? Rely on what the salesman has been told to push that week? Listen to biased BBS or magazine reviews? Buy a couple to take home and bring back?

BB and CC both usually have a single set connected directly to a BluRay player and it usually looks good. But it is also the $6k set. So, how do you compare the 53" $2500 sets from Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony, etc?

 

[Scherrman]

Aren't there any independant dealer in your area? Normally you smaller dealers are more knowledgeable. Try finding a Brand Source dealer. They can get multiple brands and have prices just as competitive as the big box store. Plus they probably offer service.

 

[tigerfan33]

Buy it at a B&M. Return it within 10 days to avoid restocking charges. Then buy it at Amazon.

 

[jayn_j]

Buy it at a B&M. Return it within 10 days to avoid restocking charges. Then buy it at Amazon.

That generally isn't my style. It feels like cheating. I will occassionally return stuff, but I generally buy with the intention of keeping it and using it.

Scherrman, I can't say there isn't anything as I am about an hour west of the Chicago western suburbs, but there really is nothing in Rockford except megamarts.

I am really looking for a way to develop strategies to be able to go into these stores and do some meaningful evaluation. Ideally, I'd love to be able to bring in something like a portable media player with HDMI and connect directly, and then talk the salesman out of a remote so I could adjust picture quality.

 

[rustamust]

I have them set up a good quality up converting DVD player with a DVD that I know well and feed it to the TV of choice, this is close to watching sat HD. Then turn down the settings to about 50% and view for a while. BB and CC will do this if they want you as a customer.

 

[cjwct]

The best and only real answer is to do research online. What type of television are you looking for . . . lcd, plasma or are you even considering a projector? I can try to help steer you

 

[harshness]

I'd travel to wherever you need to go to properly audition the candidates. Traveling an hour or less away is going to cost you something but you'll get it back in peace of mind that you did due diligence.

I bought my TV at a nearby discount TV chain store and they let me put the units through all of the paces.

 

[cjwct]

The problem at any store is that tv sets are shipped with the brightest settings and you can never truly get an idea of which set is better than the other. Thus why online research is a great starting point and then possible looking further down the line at calibration through someone like Gregg Loewen at LionAV

 

[harshness]

It may sound odd, but one of the most important tests you can subject an HDTV to is how well it deals with a poor quality SD program. I find that any of the MTV channels delivered in SD via CATV or satellite to be the most punishing. My backup choice for abusive SD quality would be the Comcast networks.

 

[harshness]

The problem at any store is that tv sets are shipped with the brightest settings and you can never truly get an idea of which set is better than the other.

They're usually shipped with reasonable settings (standard to somewhat reduced contrast, lamp saver, etc.) and the salesmen crank them up to eye-wrenching. A proper shop will give you the remote and you can usually reset everything to factory with a menu option.

 

[tigerfan33]

That generally isn't my style. It feels like cheating. I will occassionally return stuff, but I generally buy with the intention of keeping it and using it.

I have done it twice and have not felt bad once. The reason is the high prices and the idiot advice they give on how to work a hdtv and which is better and wanting you to buy lcd cleaner and those Monster hdmi cables.

 

[Scherrman]

Jayn_j, I am in eastern Iowa, not too far from you. There have got to be some independant dealers within an hour of you. Try going to Brandsource.com and searching for local stores. I sell TVs and I have all the remotes out for people to use. Usually try to keep the brightness down a little also because it's harder on the TV's.

 

[Scherrman]

I would advise not to ever buy a TV off the internet. You never know what the shape of the TV will be in and it a hassle to return. In some cases buying from some internet sites nullifies the warranty.

 

[mike123abc]

I research on avsforum.com

You can quickly find out too much information about any set you are interested in, including every flaw, no matter how small.

I have always bought brick and mortar. I would probably buy from Amazon.com without issues. I never pay the MSRP, just have to wait for the right sale and combination of coupons and price matches to get the price you want. Last weekend for example Circuit City had the LN40A650 on sale $500 off, then I got BB to price match and beat the price. I got it for $1299 at BB. If you compare mail order it is not the best (especially since I paid sales tax) but it is well below the average price. 1299+107.17=1406.17. Plus with the rewards zone card I will get about $30 back in a BB gift cert making it 1376 or so.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...0a650&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1202649424760 <-- what BB will sell for if you do not work it

Samsung LN40A650A 40" LCD TV: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag <-- Mail order prices

I do not mind paying the sales tax in exchange for the 30 day hassel free return period (45 days actually with Silver Rewards Zone Card).