Video Asylum

Posted by Shawn Harvey (i) on September 13, 2000 at 09:55:41:

In Reply to: TV----help--------- posted by HKD on September 13, 2000 at 06:45:25:

Plasma displays are in the $5-15,000 range though they are on a nice downward price line -- still a rather new item in the scheme of things. Soon to take over is DLP, especially for rear projection. You might want to wait a year and see where those go.

I've seen regular HDTV big-screen (45"+) for $3,500 or less at the local Best Buy but I haven't really checked into them feature-wise.

For your $1,500, your best bet is probably a 4:3 standard direct-view, maybe one of the nicer 36" makers (Sony, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, etc.). You might be able to find a rear-project for that much but I wouldn't take bets that it's not going to have some major display problems (convergence, red-push, etc.).

Right now $1,500 doesn't really get you into the big-screen league, though that may change some in the future -- at least a year, though. If you can't wait, I'd say get a nice 36" direct view and enjoy it while technology wends it's way towards affordable large-screen display units.