Well, it's time to start HDTV shopping, as I've received a check for christmas to go buy myself one. I've more or less determined what I need in a TV... with one exception.

Do I get 720p or 1080p?

720p is 1280x720... I also wish to use any TV I get as a second (maybe primary) monitor for my laptop. As far as I can tell from here, the driver for my graphics card only operates on two modes through my laptop's VGA port... 800x600 and 1280x768. I obviously would prefer to operate on the higher resolution, and assuming that the TV I get doesn't have a VGA port and does up/downscaling for it, I would be forced to get a VGA to HDMI or VGA to component adapter, which would not do any up/downscaling without paying up the butt for it.

Now, a lot of the HDTVs I'm considering advertise that their native resolution (Or at least maximum supported) is 1024x768 pixels, which would work perfectly for me. However, I thought that 720p was 720 horizontal scan lines, so I'm a bit confused... So I guess I'm a bit wary about something that advertises 768 pixels of vertical resolution, and want to be 100% sure that what I'm getting will be sufficient for my needs.

EDIT: This fucker is actually 60hz based off of a few customer reviews and further research. It's a pity, all the comparable televisions I see have fewer inputs (although all I really need are 2-3 composite, 1-2 component, and 1-2 HDMI)...



In addition, any other advice/etc? I'm likely going to go with a plasma, mainly because I'm more likely to use a TV in lower light and I'd prefer a higher refresh rate. The big downside I see is burnin... I likely won't be using it with my laptop for anything but watching Packers games on Packershome.com, other videos, and maybe gaming... But it still scares me

1080.

HD is now transmitted default at 1080, so running 720 the TV is modifying the picture to start.

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It's not worth the extra 150, 200 bucks for me at this point, especially money out of my pocket. I don't watch a lot of TV, the primary uses for my TV would be for gaming (Newest console is a Gamecube, don't intend to buy another one any year soon), Packers games (don't need 1080p, would be nice but not hugely useful), and for videos off the internet. I'm not a movie person so I'm not going to get a Blu-Ray player anytime soon, don't have any other devices that require anything above 720p... So yeah.

Although I do take donations if you'd like to help me get a better TV. 🙂

Eff that Por.. lol Get me a PS3 and I'll hook you up with $100 to go towards your HD tv fund. 🙂

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Alright, pay up. 

If you plan to buy online, remember that you can get a cashback discount if you go through bing first. For example, I just looked, and they advertised 5-15 percent off at Best Buy.

Wow. Thanks a bundle, will have to look into that. Might be able to order it for in-store pickup and save a bunch. 🙂

If you'll be getting a PS3 or BluRay player, go with 1080p. Yeah, 720 looks good, but the price difference really isn't that much anymore. If you're going to get an HDtv bigger than 32", there will be a pretty big drop off in quality between 720 and 1080. I have a 1080p 42" Vizio, and the difference in price between 720 and 1080 wasn't much and it was worth paying for the better quality picture.

My HDtv is LCD, and I've never had problems in darker lit rooms. It looks just as bright and vivid with all the lights off as it does with the lights on. My parents also have an LCD and dark rooms aren't a problem. The glare off a plasma is much more of a problem, because you almost have to be in complete darkness to have no glare.

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You won't find that much difference between 1080i and 720p during regular TV HD broadcasts (at least I don't), but the picture is significantly better with a blue ray player, PS3 (those actually output signal at 1080p).

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