What you Should Know Before Buying a New TV

1. Not Measuring Available Space
When purchasing a new TV set, especially LCD or Plasma screens, it’s a common mistake to forget to measure the amount of space available for the system. If you’re upgrading from a CRT TV set (big box), chances are you’ll be choosing between an LCD, Plasma or DLP, all of which are much smaller than CRT monitors. It’s important to measure the amount of space available to ensure that your new TV will fit. If you buy a 42″ LCD or Plasma TV, the 42″ refers to the length of the line running diagonal from the top left to the bottom right of the screen. The actual width, height and depth should be indicated on the label or in the product description online.

2. Not Considering Size of Room/Viewing Area
This is another common problem that first time TV buyers forget to take into consideration. For example, buying a 60″ Plasma for a 10’x10’ room is probably overkill; it’s similar to going to a movie theater and sitting in the first or second room. Prolonged exposure to a TV set at such a close distance can cause pain to your eyes and potentially inflict long term damage. Finding the optimal viewing distance for your TV set is an important consideration to make when purchasing a TV. If you’re interested in finding the optimal viewing distance for a given size, check out this site.

3. Not Enough Research
Buying a TV was a lot simpler twenty years ago; there were less options, makes and models. Nowadays it seems as if new brands and technologies are popping up every month that it’s hard to keep track of them all. That’s why for today’s TV buyer, research is a must. Especially for price conscious buyers, going online and doing your research can save a great deal of money. Buying online is almost always cheaper than buying from a store.

4. Forgetting to Compare Brands
What do Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sharp, and Vizio all have in common? They’re all famous electronics brands which include TVs. While Samsung and LG may make great cell phones, that doesn’t guarantee they also make great TVs as well. A Sony 42″ HDTV may be better than a Samsung HDTV of the same size, but for another size class the opposite may be true. Comparing specific models for specific brands is vital to making a well informed TV purchase. The last thing you want to do is spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a new TV and find out that it doesn’t have the features you want or the durability you were hoping for.

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