02-11-2009, 02:32 AM
deckeda wrote:
I'm typically a very picky shopper, especially with regards to audio or video equipment. And in the case of a TV, ya wanna see the picture before you buy.
Or do you? Is it necessarily critical, I wonder, for what's essentially a lower-end TV. Consider that while differences in picture quality, ergonomics and features will always exist it becomes a question of how important those differences are, in light of A) the effort to uncover them in less than optimal retail settings and B ) will those differences actually be apparent at home? Buying online has certainly shifted the equation, especially if you can determine with some reasonable clarity if item A is "at least as good" as item B, even if sight-unseen.
I guess I have an expectation that there will be no way to really compare the picture adequately in the store; the sound is extremely important to me, and the inituitiveness of the menus and remote secondary; I figure the specs can tell me what I really need to know about the picture.
My current set really sounds great. The bass can crank, and the treble is so clear I was watching medium last night and every time a cell phone rang on the show it was so clear it freaked me out a bit.