42LG30

Well, I finally succumbed. I'd been telling myself to hold off on buying a flatscreen television because there's a significant possibility I'll be moving at the end of the year. I don't watch that much t.v. and my 24-26" CRT was working fine. I managed to hold out for more than year when I saw what I think is a pretty good deal at Circuit City, which was selling a 42LG30 for $100 cheaper than Best Buy, and $200 lower than the regular price.

The 42LG30 is a 42" LCD 720p flat screen television, with 3 HDMI inputs, 2 component inputs, 2 RCA inputs, and has received positive reviews from both professional reviewers and customers. The reviews along with the price are what contributed to my decision -- without either I wouldn't have purchased it. Despite my post regarding the U.S. economic stimulus package, honestly the stimulus never crossed my mind until a day or two after I'd placed the 42LG30 special order.

It's been a little over a week since the t.v. was delivered and so far and I'm glad I made the purchase. Standard signals are definitely substandard when compared to my old television. Though I've already gotten used to it so I don't notice it so much anymore. My old t.v. of course is smaller, so there's less detail but smoother pictures. The 42LG30 is larger, so pictures are bigger and hence show more detail, which, as I said, on a standard signal initially looked sub-par -- especially faces. But again, it's no longer so distracting once I got a little used to it.

I might say more about HD picture quality later, after I finally have some HD channels setup. The over the air HD signals in my area are limited to the major networks and PBS. Unfortunately, I don't watch those channels, except perhaps for the news, so I'm waiting for Comcast (ugh) to hook me up with digital and HD service.

I haven't tested how my DVDs look, yet. I really should do that.

Games on my Nintendo Wii look better -- I can see different coloured grass layed out in grids on Wii Sports, whereas previously the grass was just an uniform mass. Mii close-ups don't look as smooth, but that may be because I'm sitting slightly too close to the television -- 42" is a little big for my living room layout, which I knew when I bought it, but I figure after I end up moving it might turn out to be too small. :o)