Buying a LCD TV

[rangaraj]

Originally Posted by aggressive_anush

damn!!
So out of the other 3 -
The sony s2000, v2000 and the philips, which one would you recommend?
I need decent standard def quality, which i read somewhere that the philips was excellent at. The Bravia V series was rated quite brilliantly everywhere though. But do the extra features over the S justify a 15k price difference?

I went through this thought process as it was forced upon me - my wonderful CRT conked on me. I finally ended up buying the S series of the Bravia (32"). The reasoning was as follows - i initially intended to buy a CRT to replace it and found the Sony to be the best. Then i asked the guy to place it next to a Philips LCD that he was pushing towards and asked him then to show me the Sony as well. So when i saw the three - from a Tatasky feed - i clearly found that the Sony was the best. I wanted to minimise the cost of purchase as i felt i would ultimately replace this (currently in my family room) with a newer technology large display set (OLED or SED or similar technology when it matures), and move this to another room. So i did not go in for any higher end Sony (the V or the X series) either in terms of quality or size.

Overall my rating is that i hate watching the 16:9 streched version, so i end up watching the 4:3 version which is sort of similar in size to the CRT i had - if your personal preference is the same, then go for a larger size if budget permits. I did notice that there is a lag time in tickers and fast action sports, so if that is what you want, you may want to connect the samsung (which has a game mode) and the sony and compare the two. The other option is of course to go to plasma, but that is a whole different discussion..Overall the color rendition is fantastic, the skin tones in particular.. Am i thrilled with the sony, not really, but i guess it is the limitations of LCD technology and the quality of the feeds rather than Sony. Amongst the lot, i would vote for the Sony if you have chosen LCD as a tech.

[vid6639]

Is it worth going for the 40" or can i go for the 37". My house isnt huge and the viewing distance will be around 8-10 feet or more. I'm not a movie buff and dont even have a DVD player. It's for watching normal TV, sports and the money I save with the 37" will allow me to buy a home theatre system.

SAMSUNG's Digital World - LCD TV | LA37R81B

[akshay1234]

if its for watching normal tv then also look at the sonoma. its a cheaper model. or do you only want the bordeaux art? why dont you go to a shop. they usually play normal tv and then decide between a bordeux, bordeuax art and sonoma. the price would be much cheaper in a shop. at least about 5-10k cheaper. i would say go for the 40'

[mrhap]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Is it worth going for the 40" or can i go for the 37". My house isnt huge and the viewing distance will be around 8-10 feet or more. I'm not a movie buff and dont even have a DVD player. It's for watching normal TV, sports and the money I save with the 37" will allow me to buy a home theatre system.

SAMSUNG's Digital World - LCD TV | LA37R81B

If you are watching only standard definition tv telecasts , then lcd is notthe right choice. Go in for a plasma tv , as plasma tvs are much better fot low quality tv transmissions.

[islandman]

The new Bordeaux art series is very good for 32" and 37" buyers. Good Contrast Ratio (8000:1) and other features to boot. One can bargain the same to Rs 55000/- and Rs76500/- respectively. I picked one yesterday.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by islandman

The new Bordeaux art series is very good for 32" and 37" buyers. Good Contrast Ratio (8000:1) and other features to boot. One can bargain the same to Rs 55000/- and Rs76500/- respectively. I picked one yesterday.

Congrats. Which one you picked up and for how much? Any idea what is the current price of bordeaux for 40"?

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Congrats. Which one you picked up and for how much? Any idea what is the current price of bordeaux for 40"?

Should be around 90-95.

[Wheeliej]

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

But the reality is with the custom duty (any idea how much..) & excess baggage charges,dunno if it would be worth to do so....

Customs duty is 40% of the value assessed by the customs officials (minus the 25k exemption). The value is based on street value of the piece in India (which will include excise, customs, sales, vat AND every other kind of tax and margin of all the people - wholesaler, stockist, reseller, etc - in the process).
And they pretend not to understand when you explain to them that they cant really be charging 40% on the Indian street prices; that it should be charged on the base price before taxes. Add to that, the street prices that they have are outdated and, for electronic goods especially, much on the higher side.
Excess baggage, last time i checked was 1% of the ticket price (list price for that sector) per additional kg (approx about SGD 17-20 per kg)
Considering that most airlines only permit 20 KG, that would be atleast 15 kg excess.....
final analysis - Not worth it.

[navdeep]

Anything above 25k is subjected to custom duty on remaining amount. customs duty @ 35% + an education cess of 2% i.e. the effective rate is 35.7%[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Wheeliej

And they pretend not to understand when you explain to them that they cant really be charging 40% on the Indian street prices; that it should be charged on the base price before taxes. Add to that, the street prices that they have are outdated and, for electronic goods especially, much on the higher side.

A purchase bill should suffice.

If you are getting a technologically superior TV which is still not available in India, it is worth going through all the trouble stated, else it is a waste.

[whatcanthisbe]

Originally Posted by vid6639

LCD and plasma are 2 different technologies. The plasma prices have dropped since the technology has stabilised and the cost of a plasma panel is much lesser.
If your looking at overall quality for watching regular cable TV or with the tatasky or something go for a plasma. The picture quality for that is better. The only drawbacks to plasma are bulkier weight and higher power consumption. The older gens had burn in problems which resulted in permanently burnt images on the display. this would happen if you watch a static display for very long like a news channel continuously which has the 2 bars scrolling across them. Also plasmas had problems of shorter life. All these have been more or less sorted out.

On the other hand LCD is the newer technology. The life is slightly more of a LCD panel. The power consumption is lesser. it's very clear for HD or DVD viewing but most models dont have good tuners with noise reduction for regular cable viewing.

Suggest you go for a samsung plasma. If you want to go for the current inthing then LCD.

well said
i think the normal life of a plasma and an lcd is now abt 60,000 - 75,000 viewing hrs , assuming you watch tv for every day of your life for 8 hrs a day that would give you 7500-9135 Days - 20.5-25.6 YEARS of TV this is assuming you watch tv for 8 hrs a day EVERY day .. .now which one of you keeps a tv for that long ?

[esteem_lover]

i know some people give 4-8 hrs of rest each day for their TVs.

[esteem_lover]

i know some people give 4-8 hrs of rest each day for their TVs.

[AshOnTheRocks]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

i know some people give 4-8 hrs of rest each day for their TVs.

Hi E_L : Wondering why the same post as sent before..Are you expecting a response from people who give 4-8 hrs of rest each to their TVs !

[esteem_lover]

No ash, those people wouldn't have the time to read this. my internet was acting up & i clicked the submit 3 or 4 times not knowing whether the post was really submitted.