I am pretty happy with a 32" Winbook HDTV (from Microcenter)... it was around $800 at the height of the recent sales... now $900 with the rebate.

They also had another brand 37" for under $1000.

With HD cable/satellite they are pretty impressive. If you are producing any HD work... they are also pretty good at displaying the quality thyat you can produce. Obviously not 1920x1080 quality (these are all 1366x768) but - pretty good anyway.

I would definitely go with the Big Woody! What? Haven't heard of the Big Woody? Check it out here : )

Big Woody

Okay, maybe not, but it is worth a laugh!

I can't afford the $14.95 for the Big Woody. Does it come in 72" version?

Laugh at me all you want but I might just pick one up. How bad can the distortion be if I project at half the max size?
Seriously.
Any takers?
I don't know that I'd invite friends over to watch a movie in my new "theater" but for video games or casual fun...hmm....

With a serious answer for busterkeyton the $1000 32" Maxent at Costco looks real good for the price. It's 720p (1366) and I think HDMI which is a must if he will keep it past next summer.

Man it is really hard to keep track of all the new brands in TVs these days.

I suppose these companies haven't been around long enough to have a track record.

There are a few considerations for that "projection" TV that they don't mention. The television must be placed upsidedown in the box in order to get a rightsideup image on the screen. That may limit the choice of TVs because many don't have a top surface that could be used for this purpose. Even then, the image will be reversed left to right on the screen. I suppose one could build the box with a mirror to correct for this, or put a mirror in front of the lens.

Also, most televisions just aren't very bright. If you project a 20" image onto an 80" screen, the brightness will be reduced to 1/16, and even less than that depending on the size of the lens compared to the size of the screen. You'll have to have an absolutely dark room to see the image at all, and even then it will probably look rather dim.

Using a Fresnel lens will introduce a lot of distortion. It's also not color-corrected so there will be very noticeable color fringes around the edges of the image. A glass lens would work much better, but in order to get one big enough to allow enough light through you would be spending more than the TV is worth.

So, if you happen to have one of those Fresnel lenses lying around and you feel like tinkering go for it. It's definately not worth $15 for the experience.

I picked up an Akai HDTV 1080i, widescreen, 42" projection at Circuit City for $799 (regularly $1,100). Had good reviews. Has a nice auto focus feature that re-aligns to perfection once the TV warms up a bit.

Buster,
Why don't you look at these LCD TV reviews and also check out the user evaluations on Amazon.com for the various sets.
Also noteworthy is that Walmart has a no questions asked 90 Day return policy and most of what they have is on display and competitively priced.

John

Thanks.

Also. I should say that the TV need not be monsterous. They live in a railroad apartment in new york, long and narrow, so they won't be far from the TV.

Thanks for the Walmart tip, but we don't have them in NYC, we do have Costcos though.

buster:

jlafferty is looking for a cheap apartment in NYC. See "Anyone know a good rental house in NYC". So your friends who have the railroad apartment move in with you for a week or two and they rent their place to Lafferty. With NYC rents being what they are you both will be able to get the 50" Sony Xbrite Spot has.
Mike

>>>Thanks for the Walmart tip, but we don't have them in NYC<<<

For some reason I always tought L.I was part of the city. Just feels like it I guess. What is it like 11 miles away from Manhattan to the nearest Walmart?

The western tip of Long Island contains part of two of the boroughs: Brooklyn and Queens. These only occupy a small portion of the whole island.

Wal*Mart stores close to NYC

That's correct. Brooklyn and Queens are part the land mass of long Island and part of New York City. When you talk of "Long Island," it's considered the surburbs of New York. If you are in Brooklyn you will say "I'm going to Long Island." If you are from Long Island you will say "I'm going back to LongGuyland." (OK, I kid.)

The closest Wal Mart to me is 19 miles.

For my brother, the Wal Mart discussion is a bit moot, because he works two blocks from Costco.

WalMart tried to open a store in Queens but it didn't go through.

>>>WalMart tried to open a store in Queens but it didn't go through.<<<

yeah and they were talking about one in Brooklyn as well.

ON SALE at B&H - JVC LT-26X575 26" 16:9 HDTV Ready LCD TV - HDMI Input. Mfr# LT26X575 • B&H# JVLT26X575.
Our Price: $ 849.95

Key Features

• High Resolution
The 1366 x 768 W-XGA 26" LCD panel's high pixel count provides fine detail for outstanding HDTV reproduction. The LCD-panel technology reduces glare and provides flicker-free, bright and vivid pictures.



• HDTV Monitor
LT-26X575 displays HDTV program images in 720p and in 1080i. Since it's HDTV Ready, you need a separate HD set-top box to receive HDTV programming. It also accepts signals from a variety of analog and digital sources.



• Cinematic Wide-screen with Aspect Ratio 16:9
Enjoy a theater-like experience at home with the movie-theater aspect ratio of 16:9.



• High Brightness and Contrast Ratio
LT-26X575's proprietary flat-panel technology provides stunning images with high brightness (500 cd/m2) and high-contrast ratio (800:1).



• Wide Viewing Angle
This LCD TV features an extremely wide viewing angle of 170° horizontal, 170° vertical. You'll always get great image quality, whether you're sitting directly in front of the TV or off to the side.



• Fast Response Time
LT-26X575 has a fast response time of 15 ms, which allows you to enjoy full-motion video and graphics without ghosting or streaking.



• Natural Cinema 3-2 Pull Down
This feature improves the display of video programs originally shot on 24 frames per second.



• Advanced Video Enhancement Techniques
LT-26X575 incorporates several advanced techniques such as DIST (Digital Image Scaling Technology), 4-point color management and 75 MHz Digital Super Detail to enhance the video images. These techniques allow you to get stable, clear and stunning color images from any video source.



• HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
This interface enhances audio and video performance of the LCD TV. In addition, this interface uses one cable and one plug to simplify connections.



• Easy Connection for HD Tuner
Connect this TV's HDMI input directly with the HDMI output of your HD Tuner for uncompressed video transfer. Otherwise, use a DVI-HDMI video connector to connect the HD Tuner's output with the JVC LT-26X575's HDMI input terminal along with additional audio connection.



• Non-detachable Speaker System
The speakers provide excellent stereo sound of 10 watts per channel.



• High Quality Audio
This TV's superb audio quality features BBE high definition audio and advanced HyperSurrond and Hyper Bass to complement the high quality video. It also has MTS/SAP.



• Aspect Modes and Display Settings
You can adjust the screen size to any of the available aspect modes, such as Panorama, Cinema, HD Panorama, Cinema Zoom, Full, or Regular format. You can also set the display settings (video status) to Standard, Dynamic, Theater or Game.



• Twin Picture Function
Displays two pictures side-by-side at the same time for convenient viewing. This TV has Index for screen selection that allows you to select one of 12 channels.



• Parental Control
Allows parents to block programming for specific channels from their kids.

High Resolution - The 1366 x 768 W-XGA 26" LCD panel's high pixel count provides fine detail for outstanding HDTV reproduction.

1366x768 is medium resolution, at best. Plus, 1366x768 doesn't natively conform to any of the standard DTV resolutions; 1920x1080, 1280x720 or 720(704)x480.

The Dell 24" 1920x1200 monitor is a much better (and higher resolution) solution for around the same price.

John

John,

That is a computer monitor being used as a TV?

Tip: get a projector (1200 lumens or better) for around 1k, and a 6x9 foot screen, new from ebay sellers (around $249) and have a superb way to watch movies...

I've had that setup in my home theatre (w/klipsch speakers + sony dvd players/ amplifier) for the last 18 months and it makes a HUGE difference, it's terrific.

HD? Who cares??? If anything, I prefer larger 6x9 foot screen that's in a lot Lower resolution, as I don't notice the difference .. and it's much better, more immersive "experience" to watch movies on a projector w/screen and 5-channel surround, sitting on a comfortable couch/futon, than any over priced HD screen could ever be.

Like, watching Angelina Jolie life-size in "Tomb Raider", 5 feet tall just 10-12 feet in front of me, does life get any better? Or Jeri Ryan in "Voyager" as 7 of 9, lifesize right there in great color w/sound. It's great.

Me, I'm not buying into the HD "thing". I don't watch regular tv anyways, havent for 14+ years... except for cnn/cnbc and local news..

I watch DVD tv reruns and movies, on a huge projector system w/great sound, it's terrific.

Also great to watch concert DVDs on (eagles, ac/dc/ sade etc)

I say screw HD TV and those overpriced plasma monitors.

$2500-$4000 for a 50" ? No way. I spent 1500 for a 6x9 foot system and it rocks. Try it - trust me you'll never go back. If anything, investing in high-quality Sony amps, DVD players and klipsch speakers w/subwoofers and surround speakers, that's where I put my money. The visuals are also fantastic, using a projector.

Next project I'll probably do is rip all my movie/tv DVDs to external hard drives and run off a laptop, so I can point and click to any movie/TV show I want, with icons, and instantly watch it, vs having to remember where all the shiny silver discs are ...

sound good?

I honestly, truly recommend you all try that - go get a projector and a screen, and watch movies in surround sound that way, it's much less expensive than large screen TVs (I used to have a Sony projector tv, largest 4:3 model they had, was expensive ... used it til I tried this, eg the 51" I believe it was, it was much better than regular tv sets, but projectors are a Huge improvement)...

It's better than being at the movies, because you're "right there", and it's a great virtual reality, "you're in the movie" type experience ... highly highly recommended..

I don't have any specific projector recommendations, I have a Toshiba I bought a few years ago, it's fine .. likely I should get a 4k lumen projector, the new dells are inexpensive..


ken

"John, That is a computer monitor being used as a TV?"

Buster, well, yes... and, no. It has 15-Pin D-Sub VGA, 24-Pin DVI-D, S-Video, Composite Video and Component Video inputs. As a computer monitor, it is spectacular and has lot of screen real estate. As an HD monitor, I'm feeding the component inputs using a MyHD MDP-120 HDTV card and it, too, looks spectacular. 1920x1080 HDTV in its native resolution. The Dell monitor will display virtually anything you throw at it from a variety of sources. It's kind of a "universal" monitor.

Ken said, "I say screw HD TV and those overpriced plasma monitors."

Ken, I agree, plasma TV's are a monumental waste of money, however, I must take exception to your "screw HD TV" statement. I'm guessing by your blanket condemnation that you have probably never seen a properly fed HDTV system. Although you did say, "as I don't notice the difference." I suppose that some people don't. I do.

John

Yes indeed - the Dell 2405 is what I use for the screen in our entertainment center. With HDV and digital interfaces the distinction no longer exists like it used to.