Best gaming TVs: LED vs. LCD?

Hello there

I am finally ready to upgrade my living room setup after a decade of sticking with an old CRT television, and I am looking to pull the trigger on something modern... Since this will be my daily driver, but I also plan to hook up my PC occasionally for some gaming sessions and movie nights, I have a few specific requirements in mind. I need a screen with a diagonal of at least 40 inches, featuring 1080p resolution with vibrant color reproduction, plenty of HDMI ports, and broad support for various video formats so I don't run into any playback issues when I connect my computer. Most importantly, I want something reliable and high-quality—ideally avoiding brands like RCA or budget generic labels... My budget is around $3,000, though I could stretch to $1167 if necessary, and I plan to finance the purchase through Chase....

Adam Allen said:Hello there

I am finally ready to upgrade my living room setup after a decade of sticking with an old CRT television, and I am looking to pull the trigger on something modern... Since this will be my daily driver, but I also plan to hook up my PC occasionally for some gaming sessions and movie nights, I have a few specific requirements in mind. I need a screen with a diagonal of at least 40 inches, featuring 1080p resolution with vibrant color reproduction, plenty of HDMI ports, and broad support for various video formats so I don't run into any playback issues when I connect my computer. Most importantly, I want something reliable and high-quality—ideally avoiding brands like RCA or budget generic labels... My budget is around $3,000, though I could stretch to $1167 if necessary, and I plan to finance the purchase through Chase....

Hmm, is there any way you could bump that budget up to $4,000?

Adam Allen said:Hello there

I am finally ready to upgrade my living room setup after a decade of sticking with an old CRT television, and I am looking to pull the trigger on something modern... Since this will be my daily driver, but I also plan to hook up my PC occasionally for some gaming sessions and movie nights, I have a few specific requirements in mind. I need a screen with a diagonal of at least 40 inches, featuring 1080p resolution with vibrant color reproduction, plenty of HDMI ports, and broad support for various video formats so I don't run into any playback issues when I connect my computer. Most importantly, I want something reliable and high-quality—ideally avoiding brands like RCA or budget generic labels... My budget is around $3,000, though I could stretch to $1167 if necessary, and I plan to finance the purchase through Chase....

Wait, you're looking for a monitor with a built-in tuner that's at least 40'' and 1080p for under $1167? Man, that's going to be tough to find.
The cheapest HDTV monitors I've come across are pushing almost $1500, and even then, they're usually only 27''—which is way smaller than what you're aiming for.

My cousin's husband recently picked up a 40-inch Samsung 3D TV for $1433, which really goes to show that people overpay way too much for these sets, especially when you look at models without any 3D features.

P.S. I honestly don't get why people claim brands like Grundig or Quadro are low quality. If you look closely, most of this stuff—my son and I were just talking about it—is manufactured in the exact same factories; the only real difference is usually just the plastic casing. It’s all coming out of China, Taiwan, or Malaysia anyway...

Edit: I'm actually looking at a 42-inch Sony FullHD 102 LED TV over at Best Buy right now for $1000. Drew Sanchez82, I think you might have gotten your wires crossed regarding those prices. This one even comes with an MPEG4 tuner built in, and they're throwing in a Blu-ray player with it, too.

I'm gonna ask my sister where on earth she found that TV for such a steal, especially since it's got 3D too.

Drop the link for that Sony FullHD 102 40-inch 3D model.

I’m not entirely sure where she tracked it down, but I think there was some kind of New Year’s sale going on. That other Sony was part of a holiday promotion over at Best Buy, though I believe that deal expired back on December 31st, 2013. Here is a link to their catalog if you want to take a look; they had a Philips led 3 D FullHD Smart TV listed for $1333 😁
. http://www.bestbuy.com/catalog/example-link-placeholder

Believe it or not, even though people always tell me to avoid buying electronics at big-box stores like Best Buy, when it comes to TVs, they really do have the cheapest prices in the US. I actually ended up picking up a Quadro 82 cm full HD model myself—it was the only one that would fit in my media console—for just $633. It handles reading everything directly from a USB drive without any issues, though I will admit the 5.1 surround sound can be a little finicky sometimes.

Pevec is cheap for a reason (they don't exactly have a stellar reputation for quality 😁). Honestly, I can't blame myself for missing that Sony deal (and Sony at that—man, you just can't beat their quality 😁) over at that one big-box store I never even bother stepping foot in.
I was actually hunting for a 40'' HDTV on Best Buy, but it totally slipped my mind to convert everything to inches since some of these stores still list tech using those weird metric measurements.

Anyway, they should probably check out one of these TVs with a dedicated PC input if they're looking for a combo setup.

shadowlynx102 said:My cousin's husband recently picked up a 40-inch Samsung 3D TV for $1433, which really goes to show that people overpay way too much for these sets, especially when you look at models without any 3D features.

P.S. I honestly don't get why people claim brands like Grundig or Quadro are low quality. If you look closely, most of this stuff—my son and I were just talking about it—is manufactured in the exact same factories; the only real difference is usually just the plastic casing. It’s all coming out of China, Taiwan, or Malaysia anyway...

Edit: I'm actually looking at a 42-inch Sony FullHD 102 LED TV over at Best Buy right now for $1000. Drew Sanchez82, I think you might have gotten your wires crossed regarding those prices. This one even comes with an MPEG4 tuner built in, and they're throwing in a Blu-ray player with it, too.

Walmart had a big sale going on. Around that same time, I grabbed a Sony Bravia 42-inch for $1533