Well I finally talked the wife into allowing me to get a new flat screen TV. I am thinking of going 42". Now, I have read on CNET that we should all wait a few years for the quality to catch up because of the issue with quality from a TV signal. My Budget is about $3K-5K. I have read some on the HD vs ED and most state that the cost differance does not justify the HD. So, I am turning to my trusted Axiom buddies to educate me on which way to go and what models you all love.

I don't believe Extended Definition TV's are capable of true HD. I believe they only do 480P. I would look at LCD, DLP, or Plasma. 42" Plasma HD's can be had for around $3,000 grand if you look around. My dad just bought a Sanyo from Walmart for 2,494 that was rolled back from 3,500, it is a very nice unit. "Buy a DELL dude" Just kidding, but they also have one for around 3,000 believe that is setup for true HD 720P or 1080i.

Personally, I would not look at ED especially if your going to eventually watch HD.

Yes, ED is only 480P...suitable for progressive scan DVDs if that's your forte but they're not capable of where hi-def resolution is generally considered as starting.

If you don't need to hang it on the wall, I think DLP is a better value at this point.

I swear I already wrote a response to this... but it's not here.

Anyway, you can get a good DLP 40"-46" for $2000 - $3500 from Toshiba or Samsung. Why bother with half-def? You'll certainly manage alright with your DVDs with EDTV, but not with any Hi def programming or the pending hi def home video formats (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray). Unless you plan on replacing the TV within 2 years or so...

OK, gotta chime in here and add my 2 cents.

I have HD Tivo and watch it on my EDTV Panny plasma. Yes, my plasma is only capable of 480p. I connect the Tivo via DVI and my DVD via component. My standard viewing distance is about 8' or 9'. HD is STUNNING. Now would an HD plasma be better because I could watch 720p or even 1080p? I doubt it would be $1.2k more enjoyable, looking at Visual Apex prices.

I've seen some HD plasmas showing Discovery HD. Can I tell the difference between my EDTV showing HD and a true HD panel showing HD? A little, but $1.2K can be put to good use somewhere else in my house.

Will I miss having HD DVD or Blu Ray in the future? Probably not, because w/ my HD Tivo I can Tivo broadcast movies as well. (Plus the format war will take a while to complete.) And despite all the "chicken little" cries that HD Tivo is going away because of all the CES announcements, I can say that today I can record HD on my 550 GB Tivo and watch it at my leisure. I highly doubt I'll be obsolete for another few years. Besides, I still have my old SD D*Tivo in my bedroom, running strong.

DLPs and rear projections can be viable options. But my 42" display can be had for less than $1900 from very reliable online resources.

I have a 37" Panny EDTV and love it. DVDs look great, and HDTV looks even better. I know that HDTV looks betterer on HDTV, but I just don't want to shell out another $1,500 for that extra "er". My daily TV viewing is pretty much limited to 30 minutes of 10pm Seinfeld (SDTV) and occasional football, so.

Another thing to note. If your viewing habits include a lot SD viewing (since everything is not in HD...sadly), EDTV tends to show SD better than HDTV, though YMMV.

Read the January newsletter Alan addresses all you need to know about HDTV. It may help. Also there are some new QS stands. Oh btw I was the featured question of the month. Such an honor!

Hey izub,

So you spotted that, eh? It was a good question. I'm delighted you feel honored. I tried to find out your real initials through various data bank ploys but was unsuccessful. Besides, I was in a hurry! So I thought "I.Z." would suffice.

Thanks for the good question.

Regards,

That is in fact my initials! Good guess!

I've been very happy with my 42" Panasonic ED plasma. In stores, the HD and ED units didn't look that different when I backed up 10 feet or so. I mostly watch DVD's, sit about 12 feet back, and don't have HD cable, so the ED made sense for me for what I watch.

I'll second visualapex.com as a great online place to buy a plasma. Great personalized service (when I emailed them with some questions after I received my unit, I promptly got back two email replies and a phone call) and they have a stellar reputation for dealing with issues such as damage in transit.

I haven't really checked out the HD DLP units, but given their price I think that would be another option.

Well, after reading A LOT on AVS forum I went ahead and picked up the LG Electronics MU42PM12X. Shipped, with a stand, I am out $2400. I thought that the price was too good to be true but after reading thoughts on two people that just picked the unit up, I went ahead. Nice unit. I'll let you all know how it turns out.