Five Things You Should Consider When Buying HDTV

Bang and Olufsen Beovision8 LCD HDTV photo from www.techgadgets.in

Iris L, a TechPinas friend, emailed us this note earlier:
Hi TechPinas! Im planning to buy a HDTV (High-Definition TV) this week. What is the best HDTV brand? Is Samsung ok? And what are some things I should consider in buying an HDTV?

Hi Iris! Thanks for supporting TechPinas!

TechPinas considers these 10 companies as the best HDTV manufacturers in the world today (in random order): Samsung, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, Sharp, Bang and Olufsen, Sanyo, Toshiba, JVC and Pioneer.

And yes Iris, more than the gorgeous frame, Samsung HDTV's are actually very good.

Tom Samiljan of Switched.com listed down 5 things you should consider in buying an HDTV. TechPinas summarizes them as follows:

1. Consider your budget. How much are you willing to spend?
Let's face it. HDTV's are not the cheapest gadgets around. Really good HDTVs cost anywhere between $600 to around $4000 or even more (Php 30,000-200,000 ++). Window shop first, determine your budget, then do your research to make sure you get the best bang for the buck.

2. Consider the space: Where Will This Thing Go?
Sure, you have enough money to buy, for example, Samsung's latest 82" wide HDTV ~ But you only live in a 28 square-meter studio type condo. :P
Just make sure your TV matches your space -- because you wouldn't want to die of nausea and be deemed a boob while in front of the tube.

3. What kind of HDTV do you want? LCD or Plasma or Projection or CRT?
Yes. There are actually several kinds of HDTVs and you have to be specific when you describe what you wanna get to the sales person.
If you want thin and sleek, that's LCD or Plasma. TechPinas suggests you just get LCD for 42" and below screen sizes. Bigger than that, we suggest Plasma -- for richer colors and less pixel distortions.

4. What kinds of connection do you need? Will it communicate with other gadgets well enough?
OK, simply put, just get an HDTV that's not so choosy when connecting with other gadgets. Make sure it has HDMI 1.3 output (to future proof it) and your basic audio and video slots. It'd be nice if it also has S-Video and VGA ports for connecting with your laptop.

5. What are the bonus specs? Bonus is always good.
Like faster refresh rates, advance color reproduction, built-in speakers etc.

There you go!
Happy shopping! :)

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