My ten-year-old television's display is mighty snowy much of
the time (when receiving local channels), until I give it a
good whack and I guess cause some connections to work
properly again. It's humongous and so hard to move by
myself. I am getting old and do not want to have to move it.
Rather than try to repair it, I am thinking of buying a new,
lighter, flat screen TV. I have been keeping an eye peeled
for specials at Circuit City, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. I
looked at the latest Consumer Reports article on the
subject.

Yesterday at Best Buy a clerk there said buying any of the
flat screen TVs meant I would have HDTV. Without cable or
satellite with HD, the display would have black vertical
bars covering something like three inches on both sides. If
I wanted to continue using an ordinary antenna, I'd have to
go to a conventional TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Can someone please confirm or deny what the clerk said and
maybe elaborate? Meanwhile I am googling on the subject.

I do not want cable or satellite or any extra costs. OTOH, I
also do not want a huge television to move around.

TIA

Elle wrote:

Yesterday at Best Buy a clerk there said buying any of the
flat screen TVs meant I would have HDTV. Without cable or
satellite with HD, the display would have black vertical
bars covering something like three inches on both sides. If
I wanted to continue using an ordinary antenna, I'd have to
go to a conventional TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Can someone please confirm or deny what the clerk said and
maybe elaborate? Meanwhile I am googling on the subject.


I think it depends on the screen size. I was in Best Buy last night. In
the 19-20" screen size, you can still find an LCD SDTV in the 4:3
aspect ratio. They had one on sale for something like $220. We're
looking for something to put on the wall of a very small bedroom in our
cabin - complicating factor is that we want it with built-in DVD
player, those things are still kind of rare and expensive.

Jerry

The SD TV is essentially analog HDTV. Unless you have cable or satellite
service it will be useless after the broadcasters switch off analog in a
couple years.

wrote:

Elle wrote:



Yesterday at Best Buy a clerk there said buying any of the
flat screen TVs meant I would have HDTV. Without cable or
satellite with HD, the display would have black vertical
bars covering something like three inches on both sides. If
I wanted to continue using an ordinary antenna, I'd have to
go to a conventional TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Can someone please confirm or deny what the clerk said and
maybe elaborate? Meanwhile I am googling on the subject.




I think it depends on the screen size. I was in Best Buy last night. In
the 19-20" screen size, you can still find an LCD SDTV in the 4:3
aspect ratio. They had one on sale for something like $220. We're
looking for something to put on the wall of a very small bedroom in our
cabin - complicating factor is that we want it with built-in DVD
player, those things are still kind of rare and expensive.

Jerry




--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

"Elle" wrote in message
ink.net...
My ten-year-old television's display is mighty snowy much of the time
(when receiving local channels), until I give it a good whack and I guess
cause some connections to work properly again.

Stop whacking it and undo and then redo the antenna connections.

Elle wrote:
My ten-year-old television's display is mighty snowy much of
the time (when receiving local channels), until I give it a
good whack and I guess cause some connections to work
properly again. It's humongous and so hard to move by
myself. I am getting old and do not want to have to move it.
Rather than try to repair it, I am thinking of buying a new,
lighter, flat screen TV. I have been keeping an eye peeled
for specials at Circuit City, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. I
looked at the latest Consumer Reports article on the
subject.

Yesterday at Best Buy a clerk there said buying any of the
flat screen TVs meant I would have HDTV. Without cable or
satellite with HD, the display would have black vertical
bars covering something like three inches on both sides. If
I wanted to continue using an ordinary antenna, I'd have to
go to a conventional TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Can someone please confirm or deny what the clerk said and
maybe elaborate? Meanwhile I am googling on the subject.

I do not want cable or satellite or any extra costs. OTOH, I
also do not want a huge television to move around.

TIA

so you're going to ditch an otherwise usable Tv for want of a bit of
resoldering on the tuner?? sounds wasteful to me. why don't you just
fix it? or get a tech on the case?
besides, when fixed up well it will probably outlive any of the crap on
sale today, to say nothign of the sharper picture CRT gives over plasma
and LCD smear-o-vision.

I'd give it a second chance if I were you!
-B.

"Elle" wrote in message
ink.net...
My ten-year-old television's display is mighty snowy much of
the time (when receiving local channels), until I give it a
good whack and I guess cause some connections to work
properly again. It's humongous and so hard to move by
myself. I am getting old and do not want to have to move it.
Rather than try to repair it, I am thinking of buying a new,
lighter, flat screen TV. I have been keeping an eye peeled
for specials at Circuit City, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. I
looked at the latest Consumer Reports article on the
subject.

Yesterday at Best Buy a clerk there said buying any of the
flat screen TVs meant I would have HDTV. Without cable or
satellite with HD, the display would have black vertical
bars covering something like three inches on both sides. If
I wanted to continue using an ordinary antenna, I'd have to
go to a conventional TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Can someone please confirm or deny what the clerk said and
maybe elaborate? Meanwhile I am googling on the subject.

I do not want cable or satellite or any extra costs. OTOH, I
also do not want a huge television to move around.

TIA

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/

Thanks for all the suggestions, Jerry, RFI Guy, Charles, B,
and T Shadow. I'll keep studying and exploring this.

I don't know how close you are to your local TV transmitters, but I found I
can get a beautiful, clear HD picture from all three area network stations
on an old pair of UHF rabbit ears. I don't know how well that would work on
a VHF signal.


"Elle" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks for all the suggestions, Jerry, RFI Guy, Charles, B, and T Shadow.
I'll keep studying and exploring this.

Elle wrote:

My ten-year-old television's display is mighty snowy much of
the time (when receiving local channels), until I give it a
good whack and I guess cause some connections to work
properly again. It's humongous and so hard to move by
myself. I am getting old and do not want to have to move it.
Rather than try to repair it, I am thinking of buying a new,
lighter, flat screen TV. I have been keeping an eye peeled
for specials at Circuit City, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. I
looked at the latest Consumer Reports article on the
subject.

Yesterday at Best Buy a clerk there said buying any of the
flat screen TVs meant I would have HDTV. Without cable or
satellite with HD, the display would have black vertical
bars covering something like three inches on both sides. If
I wanted to continue using an ordinary antenna, I'd have to
go to a conventional TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Can someone please confirm or deny what the clerk said and
maybe elaborate? Meanwhile I am googling on the subject.

I do not want cable or satellite or any extra costs. OTOH, I
also do not want a huge television to move around.

TIA


go by the philips 32mf231d/37 and when you get is set up the aspect to
automatice.. and if your using an antenna youe will recieve your local
chanels in HD you will love that set..I work on those at a bb service
center and go crazy every time i see the picture it is unblieveable