Home audio & video: Which tv should i purchase?

2 different animals.

But what are your criteria?

guide still has shortcomings

We discussed this earlier in another thread. You might want to disclose that info as well. It's more of an alternative price portal at this point, a la froogle.com. It certainly can't compare the two HDTVs he lists specifically.

For what it's worth, I threw in the same criteria I did a few weeks ago and it gave three *worse* HDTV models IMHO than it did last time. IMO the Phillips and two Vizios are far from providing a new HDTV with the best PQ for my needs/space. Time to tweak the criteria I guess.

-Pedro

For starters

Issues like overall reliability/repair record of a particular brand should also be taken into consideration besides low price within a band. Obviously, a smaller or larger volume of units moved will skew the stats, but that could be weighted. AFAIK the Phillips plasma the elm guide recommended is not a reliable model, and the two Vizio's appeared to have been chosen for low price alone. They don't have the same repair record as some of the Panny's as the Vizio brand is relatively new. That's why I commented at first glance it really seems more like a price portal. There's no reason why at least two or three Panasonic plasmas would not be listed as 'hits' since they would fit my needs easily (and stay within the 1000-2500 price range). [Where are some of the Costco Panny's, btw?] Clearly the criteria used now are too rigid preventing some otherwise valid choices from being suggested in the output of the process. How strict are the screen sizes for a particular viewing distances being evaluated, for example(?) I would hesitate to recommend your tool to anyone since it seemd to really only seems to be in 'beta stage' with limited effectiveness.

-Pedro

-Pedro

counterintuitive/overly weighted system?

Houston we may have a problem!

For example, if I know a certain HDTV I've seen in one of the big box retailers looks very good and has a decent track record for repair, and falls within the 1000-2500 price range on some web retailer's sites, why aren't I seeing that HDTV as one of the 'hits'(?) Certainly something is only 'correct' based on the formulas (one type of criteria) utilized behind the scenes. What I am implying is that you can't use the recommended seating distance for a particular size of HDTV panel as absolute in the process. Just because my couch may be located 13-15 feet from the HDTV doesn't mean a 42" could not suffice per se. Although it should, the 42" version of a perfectly valid HDTV might not appear but only 46"-50" HDTVs, for example. How does your system evaluate/prioritize a particular HDTV over another based on amount of time spent playing video games(?) Does it have a bias toward LCD over plasma for gaming (common myth when choosing a HDTV). I'm no expert and do not work in the electronics field, but it's evident that it's not throwing back results in a particularly flexible way. This has to affect the overall validity IMO. Inquiring minds....

-Pedro

+

Well I usually recommend Samsung, but since you are comparing 2 completely different types of TV's, go with the sharp.

(NT) Aren't you sort of late to the party?? (n/t)