Holiday Buyer's Guide: 5 HDTV's

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Looking into a new HDTV to greet the New Year with, well the good news is that there are a lot of excellent choices right now. Ushering a new age in multifunctional HDTVs, manufacturers have been slinging new features and capabilities while bringing down prices to unprecedented lows. Competition is great right now and buyers have a lot of compelling choices for HDTVs this season. Here are our picks.

Sony Bravia 40" EX 400 Series HDTV - $699.99

Marked down from $999.99, Sony's 40-inch EX400 Series HDTV offers a solid roundup of features anchored by the stunning Bravia 2 Engine for optimizing colour and contrast, full 1080p resolution on the 1920 x 1080 panel, 6 HD inputs including 4 HDMI and two component inputs and true 24p progressive per second Tru Cinema feature for realizing accurate movie playback. Nice added extra is the ambient sensor that can adjust screen in accordance to the room's brightness and also manages to add to the HDTV's low-power consumption. In terms of full-featured LCD sets, the EX 400 brings premium Sony features to the midrange. 

LG  26" 26LE5300 LED LCD TV - $620

For apartment dwellers with limited space or as a second TV for the bedroom, LG's ultra-clear 26" LE5300 LED LCD TV offers brighter colours, deeper blacks as well as LG's Invisible Speaker technologu and the ability to enhance DivX sourced from notebooks or PCs. Thin and offering LED technology at a rock bottom prices, LG's LE5300 also innovates the viewing experience with great features that automatically enhance and amplify the sound of the human voice frequency range to help keep dialogue audible.

Sharp AQUOS LC32LS51OUT 32-Inch 1080p Edge Lit LED TV - $600

Sharp’s LC32LS510UT provides an elegant, edge-lit 32" Class (31-1/2" Diagonal) television solution with a distinctive design. The LC32LS510UT features a high-performance LCD panel for high brightness, a high contrast ratio, low-reflection glare protection and wide viewing angles. LED is the way to go with LCD technology and now that the price of the tech has gone down. For a 32-inch LCD HDTV capable of 1080p, Sharp's LC32LS510UT is a good option for the $600 SRP.

Samsung 42" 720p Plasma HDTV (PN42C430) - $549.99

While LCD seems to be the more popular HDTV technology, a lot of users still love the image quality and colour fidelity offered by plasma sets. Samsung offers a 42-inch HDTV that manages 720p for $549.99 which is a amazing price for a sammy set of this size.

The PN42C430 delivers a premium viewing experience. The high-definition resolution and mega contrast ratio ensure every detail is brought to life with incredible realism. Add to that the 600Hz subfield drive, which delivers smoother images no matter how fast they're moving, and FliterBright Antiglare and you'll enjoy optimal image contrast and on-screen clarity. The downside is that it only comes with two HDMI in ports.

Toshiba 32" 720p LCD HDTV(32C100U) - $350

Want a LCD HDTV and still have enough money left over for a PlayStation3? Toshiba's  32C11U is crazy cheap for a quality HDTV set that sports two HDMI ports and a bevy of options. At this price, you can even consider using it as a mammoth PC monitor or even a dedicated HDTV for console gaming.

32-inches is quickly becoming the entry-level for HDTV and if you don't mind the 720p resolution (which is just fine for most uses), this is an excellent deal for a great set.

Comments

[Monica]

I like that this guide compares different types of HDTV's as well as different brands but we shouldn't forget that an HDTV picture is only as good as the quality of the feed going to it. Lucky for me, not only am I an employee of DISH Network, but I also subscribe to their services. DISH has the most HD channels in the industry and they are the first and only pay-TV provider to offer over 200 national HD channels! See for yourself at dish.com/200hd!