Quick Guide on buying TV

Buying TV is not an activity that you do everyday. Therefore when buying one, you will need to find one that suits your need. I am no expert in this, but after a few trips to the various electrical stores, I learned a thing or two.

So here I am sharing what to consider when buying a new tv.. (an LCD one)

1. Size does matter - or at least matter in relevance to the space you have. The clarity of picture will depreciate the closer you get. Therefore if you have a small room, its best not to buy beyond 32", as you will ended up with unclear images. Basic rule of thumb, for a 32" TV, your viewing distance should be around

2. To HD or not to HD? It depends on what source you are gonna plug to your tv. If you are mostly gonna watch astro on the telly, then having HD is not worth the extra $$$, as our Astro does not support HD. Similarly, if you have a simple DVD player that does not support HD, then there is no point in having a Full-HD tv as you are not going to enjoy the crispy sharp images HD is supposed to relay. You are only going to get that sharp images when you connect using the HD port, and probably use blue-ray type of discs.

3. Ports - You would want to find out what kind of ports that is available on the telly. At the very least, you should be looking at one that has minimum 2 video-in ports, probably S video in and HD (for your future investments, cos HD type of equipment is still quite rare here). Most of the times you will be connecting you DVD player and astro. If you have a PS-2 then its probably wise to find telly that has more than 2 video in. Accesibility wise for these ports, for me its not really a big issue, as due to its slim size, its much much easier to reach compared to those ol CRT tvs

4. Sound of music - I am quite particular when it comes to the sound that comes from the telly. Therefore, I made sure that the TV sound is good. This is often overlooked, as most people would focus on the image displayed, and most shops would only show images, and no sound. At best, you should find one that comes with surround sound and has few preselected sound such as movie, music, etc

5. Other litle things to look for and consider are how easy to navigate the menus, with or without the remote.

6. One last factor that should also be on your list is durability. Know where the parts of your telly came from. Generally tvs that are manufactured in Japan is most desirable, whilst manufacturers coming from Taiwan or China should be avoided.