First HDTV purchase

Go with VIZIO. Best buy for your money. You can get a 42" for 900 bucks.

#1 selling lcd brand.

I have a Vizio in my office, and I'm quiet pleased with it.  You can get good value if you shop around though.  Tigerdirect have a 42" Toshiba Regza for $1099, free shipping.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3645932&CatId=3650

[SnookAU]

DirecTV gives you HDMI cables with their HD packages.

[BucFan9720]

Get the Toshiba 42RV530U, then go to tweaktv.com and use their calibration settings.

I bought this TV and it just KICKS butt.

I had a 42" Sammy plasma but sold it to get this.

Oh and I got it at best buy for 999(made them price match Sears) and got 36 months no interest on it as well.

The brands that I seen people have better luck with are Sony, LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Sharp, and so forth.  As stated, bigger tv's you should try to focus on bigger resolution on the screen.  1080p can be had at for very reasonable prices these days and sometimes you end up paying more for the name on a tv and not just quality.  For cable providers that still use analog tuning in their cable plant, you'll want to make sure to have some sort of noise reduction built into the tv.  As far as comparing picture of different tvs on a shelf, you really don't want to focus too much on color, as most times stores jack the color settings around to the point where the picture isn't always realistic.  Look for latency in the picture, in that if you seen what appears to be tiling with fast or heavy motion on the screen, then chances are that the processor in the video display for the tv is working too hard and may not keep up with it completely.

37" and smaller should be okay with 720p,1080i format, though recommend keeping the format to 720p over 1080i.

Also like awi seven offered, make sure to calibrate your tv to get the color to reflect a more true image. 

As far as Sony v. Samsung picture quality, Samsung uses dynamic contrast ratios to enhance the picture, I'm not sure on the Sonys, but Sony is not disappointing by any stretch either. 


Some stats that will help you in your purchase of a HDTV is as follows:

-contrast ratio: again it depends on the tv some in their native contrast ratio settings, you want to look for something greater than or equal to 1000:1, the higher the better.  I would shoot for as high as your budget will take you here.  This number helps define the lights and darks better and improves picture quality.  Both Sony and Samsung are going to get high marks here, as too can Toshiba, LG, and Sharp aquos.

-Latency: which is also known as response time, is a measurement in ms(miliseconds) the lower this number is the better response the tv will have. 

-Resolution: obviously there are terms 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and so forth, well the p is for progressive scan, meaning that when the tv refreshes the picture, all the lines that are drawn on the screen are refreshed, whereas the i (for interlace) refreshes ever other line on the screen.  Which is why the suggestion, merely a suggestion, that if you have a 720p/1080i tv, to set it to the 720p standard.  Also another thing to note where they get that number, is it is from the number of lines that are drawn across the screen vertically, and it being within a certain spec that is usually rounded to the closest engineering spec.  So if the vertical resolution is actually 768 lines that it draws, it is rounded to the 720p standard.

-Video scan rate:  there are some that you'll see a 60Hz rating or a 120Hz rating, some have claimed that the higher 120Hz rating helps to reduce motion blur, but one review site that I looked at said that some of the newer 60Hz tvs looked similar to the 120Hz. 

One last thing, and probably the biggest is reviews, some sites will give some good and detailed review information from both professional critics and consumers who currently have it.  A google search will get you some sites that do reviews on this stuff.  There are also some other helpful sites to look over that both sell and have reviews that you can look over from consumers.  tigerdirect.com, newegg.com, are two that I really look over a lot.

Also if you do buy one from say bestbuy, look online first, and if you see the price online is cheaper then what they have in the store, ask them about that price, and also look around and compare the price abroad.  As another poster said, you have some wiggle room to haggle with them within reason.  Hope this helps.

[T-Bone]

I have the Sony 37" LCD. it is excellent on all chanels which is what I was really looking for since most stations arent HD yet.

[BucFan9720]

Get the Toshiba 42RV530U, then go to tweaktv.com and use their calibration settings.

I bought this TV and it just KICKS butt.

I had a 42" Sammy plasma but sold it to get this.

Oh and I got it at best buy for 999(made them price match Sears) and got 36 months no interest on it as well.

Thats funny.. I returned that TV after 2 weeks because I noticed the settings I put wouldnt save and ended up with an LG that owns it.

Shows what I know.

[Morgan]

ZenBuc, what did you decide on?

[BucsGuru]

I actually ended up buying a 42" Panasonic plasma television.  I'm not thrilled about the controls, but it is a great set.  I picked up the Panasonic home theater package and couldn't be happier.
I moved the old 178 pound Sony Trinitron HD set into my bedroom along with the Sony home theater package.  The dresser/entertainment center that holds the set keeps making noises like it's going to buckle at any moment; it barely fits in it.  Had I not paid about 2,000 for both pieces when new, I probably would give them away...way too heavy!!

[ZenBuc]

ZenBuc, what did you decide on?

 totally forgot about this thread...

I ended up getting the Samsung. I love it.  I thought Sony and Samsung where very close, but I thought the Samsung was just a bit better. I've had quite a few friends who own HDs all say that they thought the picture on my Samsung looked much better than their sony, lg, etc...

[Morgan]

still can't decide for myself - plus may wait until XMAS sales before selecting. Have a smaller screen, but would like to see the Bucs game on a 47" or bigger.

[BucFan9720]

still can't decide for myself - plus may wait until XMAS sales before selecting. Have a smaller screen, but would like to see the Bucs game on a 47" or bigger.

slickdeals.net

That is all.

[white dragon]

Kuro or bust

[BucFan9720]

Kuro or bust

They dont even make TVs anymore.

[bradentonian]

I have 2 Sony 46"s and they are outstanding.

[bradentonian]

still can't decide for myself - plus may wait until XMAS sales before selecting. Have a smaller screen, but would like to see the Bucs game on a 47" or bigger.

slickdeals.net

That is all.

I love slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com.  I have saved insane amounts of money by using those sites.