I am looking to setup a TV/entertainment/game room, I am looking for the cheapest 32’in LCD 720p or 1080p, Either is fine just looking for a cheap alternative to hold me off for a while till i can afford another one, Also what are some suggestions for a good tv/center/room/game/entertainment center? I am still trying to figure out how everything should be done and look, Also what speakers i should get and stuff like that, Any help is appreciated.
This is a tough question, especially when you don’t give a general budget for what you’re willing to spend on each item or in total. I’ll kinda give you a gloss over of my system and prices because I have what I’d consider to be a very good low budget system.
TV is a 42 inch 720p panasonic plasma (I don’t use my TV strictly for gaming, and plasma is a better home theatre tech than LCD for all-around viewing) which can be had for around 600. If you’re gonna go that size or smaller, there’s no way in the world I would bother going for 1080p unless you’re going to be using it as a pc monitor as well. That’s the only way you’re really going to notice the difference in resolution, otherwise it’s just wasted money on marketing gimmicks. Same thing with 120hz. I’d say, in general, Sony, Samsung, Pansonic, LG are the best brands that have good budget options.
As far as speakers/sound go, you’ll typically get MUCH better sound going with a separate receiver/speaker combo than something that comes with everything built into the receiver/movie player unit.
I’ve got an Onkyo 575 which was, at the time, the best lower/midrange receiver I could get without jumping into the next bracket. Onkyo, Denon, and Yamaha tend to have lots of good options at good prices. Same thing with the Polk surround system I have.
Check ebay and craigslist for lots of good deals on home theatre sound systems because good speakers really don’t change much over the years, but lots of people are ditching their old system in favor something that looks just better or smaller. You can get a steal with some amazing sound. There’s TONS of quality speaker brands, I can think of Polk, Boston Acoustic, Klipsch at the moment. I know I’m forgetting some others.
How it should look is all up to you. Hope this helps.
My price for a tv is most likely around 385$, Speakers about 125$, Id prefer a 32’ for the fact, I don’t need that big of a tv, However it does sound really nice >.<
How long do you plan to wait for the next upgrade? You plan to only spend $500 for whole setup? I say just wait it out & get enough money to buy a bigger tv. I think 42" is a good size to have…Then save up for speakers/receiver setup when you can afford it…
Dont bother buying speakers at the moment, i mean your budget is only $125, any speaker with that price will probably be the same or worse then your tv speakers.
It’s almost impossible to get a 1080p display at 32" and still have it sell for less than $400. In fact, most 720p 32" televisions retail for about $300-$400.
The Toshiba Regza will provide the most bang for your buck for a HDTV under 40", and there’s a gaming mode which disables post-processing for timing-sensitive games like SF.
If you want to save a lot of money on your speaker system, just buy a PC speaker system. A decent AV receiver and speaker combo designed for home theaters is going to be ridiculously more expensive.
Not really, Ive seen decent polka speakers for less.
Also if it was only going to be for a few months, Id wait it out, But this may be years down the road
Also thanks for the newegg link, Thats not the TV Im going for, But i found some pretty good deals there, Wasn’t aware Newegg also sold TVS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889112028
Was thinking about this one thoughts? and this one
Found probably a better deal then those two at newegg + freeshipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889237016
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1080p on a 32 inch is unnecessary unless you plan on sitting 1 meter away from the TV at all times. Otherwise you would not be able to notice the differences between 720p and 1080p. You can save money by getting a 720p only TV.
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Jocky lots, pawn shops, and ebay are your friend. I got a nice stereo system (with sub), switched out the speakers, and bought 2 more speaker cabs for it for a total of $80 and it sounds good enough.
I only need speakers, I already got a 400$ reciever, My uncle couldn’t get the powerbutton fixed, All it needed was repositioned, So he gave it to me and then got pissed cause i got it in seconds, Anyways, There are plenty of nice speakers, There’s nice polka shelf paired speakers for 99$, Last i checked polka has always been a highend brand, Then again i haven’t messed with speakers since when back when with my pioneers and scotts etc, If it comes down to it, Ill just use my pioneers from my living room, Also we’re going to be pretty far from the TV, Seeing as this is being setup in the basement, So the couchs are gonna be against the otherside of the wall, But i still think a Emerson 32" will do its a pretty cheap 32’in with pretty decent quality, My dad has that TV so its one i know is decent, But some say it has problems at the moment so im still thinking
EDIT: My dad has a element, Supposedly by samsung, http://www.elementelectronics.com/products/tvs/elcp0321/elcp0321.html, I stand corrected, Element TV is actually cheap and in my price range too
For the price those 2 are pretty decent considering size, # of speakers, and types.
Check Sam’s Club clearance area too. That’s where we got our 47 inch JVC for $650. They always have a bunch of really good TVs for cheap there.
Those were actually the ones i was looking at over at bestbuy, Same exact set, Haha great minds thing alike 
Generally I try to stay away from Sceptre. Last time I bought from them, I got two monitors. One had a dead pixel, and the time they didn’t have a dead pixel policy, and Newegg wouldn’t replace it unless it had at least 5 dead pixels.
Sceptre products are great when they work, but they have a really high defect/failure rate.
I haven’t tried any HANNspree products, but the reviews don’t look good for that television. Three of the six reviews mention that their televisions died in less than 2 years.
Yea im thinking of shelling a little extra just going for the vizio 32’in 1080p/or elemental, Go with brands ive actually seen
I’m not a fan of Sony speakers at all, but then again, I’m a little bit of an audio snob. IMO, you’re better off spending your money on a good stereo setup and adding speakers later on. This way, you won’t have any real “weak” speakers in your lineup. If you can stretch your budget a little more, I think that Ascend Acoustics has some of the best speakers around for under $300. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anything better in the <$750 range. You’ll actually hit the “audiophile” level of speakers.
You can buy a B-Stock pair of CBM-170 SE for $260+S&H.
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/
My main audio setup (Paradigm Studios, SVS Subwoofer) is around $8,000 to give you idea of what I am using as a benchmark. 
You payed $8000 for a home audio system? Really?
I would suggest buying the particle board+chinese speakers Sonys for $85 instead of buying those Ascendacoustics particle board+chinese speakers for $300. Just upgrade the speakers later on when you have the $$$ and it will sound great.
- I would have spent more if I had the budget. I listen to my speakers every day whether it’s watching TV, movies or playing games. IMO, it’s a cheap investment when you think of the years of use. I’m also 33 and have a decent job, so I buy nice things when I can.
- There’s a huge difference. The Sony’s are cheap particle board speakers with poor tweeters and a lousy crossover design. The Ascend speakers use custom SEAS tweeters, which are considered some of the best tweeters in the world and are used in audiophile speakers like Wilson Audio. They even include a frequency response chart for the actual speakers they send you. Sony does nothing of the sort.
No offense, but if you haven’t heard the Ascend speakers or anything in it’s price range, I’m not sure how you can compare the two. That’s like saying a Hori EX2 is the same as a Mad Catz Tournament Edition since both have cases made in China.
Whatever dude. I’m not arguing with you. They’re both made in China and they are both made of particle board. You gotta make your choice if you want to spend $500 or $50 on the same stuff.
- It’s not my money either, so I wish the OP good luck on whatever he decides. But to describe them as the same sound quality is simply incorrect.
I don’t know of any Sony speaker that has ever had a decent professional review.
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/reviews/proreviews.html
I do too, and I like to give advice that is applicable. The OP stated that he is looking for speakers around $125, and instead of saying “save up and buy $300 speakers,” I instead gave him one of the best choices for this budget. Try it out sometime 
. I wouldn’t tell someone to save up money for an LED HDTV 50 inch when their budget is $400, would you?
- You’re right. I should have given him an option in his budget.
OP, you might also want to look at offerings from The Speaker Company. It’s a generic company that buys older speaker designs and re-markets them. They are owned by D&M Holdings which owns Denon and Marantz. They are having a 40% off sale right now. I purchased a ASW-10 subwoofer through them which is a re-market of an Energy Subwoofer (ESW-10). The subwoofer will be used with a custom Vewlix cabinet I am in the process of having built.
http://www.thespeakercompany.com/
- I would, which is probably why I have negative rep.
I can’t stretch my budget that far, Im not made of money and am not looking for the best just something acceptable to get me by, I already have decent set of pioneers, that ran me almost a grand, I just wanted some for my personal setup downstairs instead of my living room.
Thank you for all your advice, specially you canto
Im going to take a look at that site before final judgment is made.
Still deciding on a TV.