I'll be shamefully honest here -- I haven't bought a new TV since college. My old one was a 30-inch, semi-flat screen, NON-HD TV. It was long past the time to get an upgrade. And, being the not-so-tech-savvy person that I am, I made a phone call to my Big Brother.
Let's face it, looking at TVs online is completely overwhelming. I don't know what these numbers or acronyms mean! Here are my (via my big brother) tips on what to look for when shopping for your own upgrade:
Smart HD - Apparently you can now connect your Internet! These are magical times, amirite? A "smart" TV allows you to play Netflix and Hulu straight from the TV -- no screen sharing or cords necessary. How had I been living?!
Refresh Rate - The more the better. The Refresh Rate refers to how many times per second the TV updates its picture. 60 Hz - No way! 120 Hz - Moderate! 240 Hz - Ding Ding Ding, Big Bro says this is the winner.
Pixels - The newest, latest (read: expensive) technology is 4k. But the more reasonably priced 1080p still gives you a great picture. You probably won't notice the difference unless you're sitting really, really close (which your mother, like mine, probably warned you against, anyway.)
Size - Big Bro says the bigger the better. BOYS! In actuality, it all depends on your room dimensions. A "normal" sized TV is a 50-inch, by today's standards, so that's what I went with.
Brands - Sony, Samsung, Visio -- all good. Keep in mind, those are in order of most to least expensive, so let your budget push this one.
Plasma vs. LED - Big Bro says LED. My questions stopped there.
Wall Mount - Yes, absolutely! You never know where you'll end up wanting to hang it.
This all led me to one TV for my room... the Samsung UN50J6300 50-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV ... Lowest price found on Amazon.com.
Don't worry... Media console is in the mail. This project isn't done yet!
Next time I'll teach you how to bury your cords behind the drywall (or hide them deftly behind a media console.) Super Bowl at my place!
