This is YMMV. The Costco in Louisville didn't have a single Westinghouse model on the floor at all.

pdiggity said:lzpoof said:ebet said:2000:1 Contrast Ratio...... I'll Pass


well, first off you do't even know if that's native or dynamic. If it were native then it would be a very good number. It's a little confusing there cause some previous westinghouse models had 1000:1 native ratio and the TX series had 1000:1 native/4000:1 dynamic. I'd guess it's dynamic but then why wouldn't westinghouse just artifically boost the dynamic numbers like they (and all the other companies) did on their other models?

To say 'I'll pass' without even clarifying that is really ignorant.

And as far as the number, compared to the budget line TV's you really won't notice much difference. Heck I turn my dynamic either low or off on my samsung A630 and I would if I had a budget one too..... I hate the screen constantly brightening and dimming. So if 2 budget TV's both had 1000:1 native contrast but one had a huge dynamic contrast I'd probably never see the difference anyway nor would a majority of buyers.

ALSO, please show me another 42" 1920X1080 PC monitor for $700 ? I'm sure there's going to be a lot of buyers that want it specifically for computer usage even a 1000:1 native contrast would beat most PC monitors.

I'd agree - It's going to take a while to bring up the native contrast on LCD's , the technology is almost there but not quite affordable yet. Dynamic contrast really does help from what I've seen - I have a 22" LCD with 1000:1 native, but 4000:1 dynamic, and it's an impressive improvement especially in games. For most people lower contrast ratios aren't an issue with a computer monitor, but more so with a TV that used mainly for TV and movies -- 42" on your office's computer desk is a bit ridiculous I think , but maybe for a nice HTPC setup. Good price though.

You're missing the point. You can spend far more than this on a lot smaller "computer" monitor. Give me this for this price or (maybe) a Samsung 26" "computer" monitor for a little less...I'd take this.

One last thing, while you may think it is too big, plenty of others do not. You opinion on what is too big/small is not relevant to the topic. Personally, if I was still in my gaming hayday, I'd love to be playing some TF2 on a 42" monitor mounted on my wall.

Great price...wifey would kill me if I came home with another TV/monitor though...

TonyWKoo said:Unavailable in Danville, CA. She said that they're not available in San Francisco Bay Area yet.
Same thing in Kansas City/Johnson County.

Said they would be on shelves by Thursday, with at least 20 per store in the area.

So if it's $699 now... how much will these be in another 3 months for Black Friday?

Not available in the Orlando/University Blvd. store. At least they're not on the floor.

They have plenty at the Santa Clarita store north of Los Angeles. I picked one up this evening. Unfortunately I don't have any HD source material yet. I will order an HD DirecTV tuner tomorrow. This is my first HD and first LCD. I'm leaning on the Costco return policy. If this set just does not look that good with HD signals, I will return it.

I got a 42" Westinghouse 1080P LCD a couple of years ago (probably the model prior to this). PQ looked decent and it worked fine as a computer monitor. After about 10 months it developed a dark "splotch" on the right side of the screen. It was quite large, maybe the size of a misshapen basketball. It wasn't always noticable when watching TV but when used as a monitor it looked terrible. I called to get it repaired and Westinghouse sent a repairman out to look at it. He ordered a part and I waited. And waited. And waited. After 4 months of waiting I took it back to Bestbuy and returned it for a Sony.

Westinghouse warranty service is pretty bad, or at least it was for me.

Best Buy has the next model up, the TX-42F430S for $849. Provided they honor the 12% Reward Zone coupon valid from 8/29 through 9/1, that brings the price to $747.12.

The only differences are:
1000:1 Contrast ratio (vs 2000:1 for Costco unit)
Advanced Calibration Menu (whatever that is)
75% NTSC Color Gamut (vs. 72% NTSC for Costco unit)
8 ms response time (vs. 6.5 ms (gray to gray) for Costco unit)
4 HDMI connectors (vs 2 on Costco unit)
The dimensions of the Best Buy unit are slightly larger, and it's carton weight is 79.1 lbs, vs. 78.0 lbs for the Costco unit.

So, to the TV gurus out there, my question is this: are the differences above worth $47.13?

There have been a lot of reports of a huge glut in the flat panel supply. I know you can always wait for a better deal, but I'm guessing you'll see a name brand 42" plasma/lcd by black friday. I want to stress I understand you can always wait for a cheaper price, but the 42" have been stuck in the $800-$1200 price range for a while now. A drop to $699 would be significant in my opinion, especially if it is a name brand 1080p 42". Again this is just a theory, but with the large glut reported and the slow down in the economy I think those are two indications for some decent price drops in the near future.

Cheap, great find!