Opinions requested for a 27" to 30" TV

[no1jmv]

Ok, I plan on purchasing a televesion this summer and these are the three main choices:

1) my "low end choice - a 27" Panasonic Tau...this tv falls under $500 is analog and is 4:3

2) my "middle" choice - a 27" Samsung DynaFlat HDTV....~$700, capable of 1080i, 4:3

3) my "high-end" choice - a 30" Samsung Widscreen DynaFlat HDTV...~$1000, capable of 1080i, 16:9

Now, I am a college student so money is a big consideration. Thats why I really would like the following questions addressed:

1) I would not get HD programming probably for a few years, so the only widescreen source material I will be viewing is DVDs. I watch DVDs a lot, but a lot of television too. So the question is should I spend the additional money for a widescreen TV when all of the television programming I will be recieving is 4:3?

2) So lets say I knock the 16:9 set out of the eqn. Now we're only debating between a 27" analog set and a 27" HD set. The MAIN reason I would go for the HD set is in order to get 480p on DVDs vs 480i on the analog set. My question is whether 480p looks significantly better than 480i on a set as small as 27 inches? Or since the set is so small, should I just save myself a lot of money right now and stick with the analog set, and just upgrade to HD after a few years when I have a lot more money?

Thank you for your help,

Josh

[no1jmv]

Oh I forgot one more question. When considering the two 27" sets, the HD set features "Pro Chip Plus progressive-scan line-doubling system upconverts 480i (NTSC) sources to 480p display, dramatically improving picture quality from analog interlaced signals."

Has anyone had any experience with this feaature on a Samsung. Does it work really well? Well enough to warrant paying an addition $200 for this set over its analog counterpart?

[cleandan]

Well, having read your complete post I still come to one conclusion. You are in college and money is short. If you live in a dorm, or ever plan to, this means lots of moves and even more "friends" to mess things up. If you live at home there will still be moves and you will never hear the end of spending a lot of money on a TV while in school. Stick with the cheapest, good picture, TV you can find. Even going so far as buying used. You can get a ton of TV for much less going used. Keep your hard earned money for having fun and experiencing the things you will only get to do while in college. After college you will still have the opportunity to have fun, but it will be different. When your schooling is complete, then put your hard earned education to work for yourself as a reward and get the dream TV with the money you now have. I know this sounds like you dad, being sensible and all, but please trust me. Save your money for fun, food, women, (not necessarily in that order)and let the rest go for now. Your life of somewhat carefree living will, all too soon, be over and it will never return, so make the best of what you now have and watch perfect TV later. Good luck.

[Quenten]

Sony's 27" unit is very nice--can be had for $550 new. Has componet video in for DVD input. Because of the small screen size, progressive scan is not an issue, you will get a fantastic picture.

[toddvj]

Normally, I would recommend the Samsung any day of the week, you might have access to HD sooner than you think. If money is tight, though, go with the Panny. For regular TV, I think it looks better than the Sammy, and I agree that, other than going all the way and getting the widescreen, DVD's aren't going to look all that much better on the HD set. The upconversion from 480i to 480p is just a fancy way of saying it has a line doubler built in, which all digital TV's do. Doesn't necessarily mean a better picture, and in some cases it looks worse!! That's one of the features I like about my Panasonic TV is that you can turn the line doubler off!