How are those Proton TVs?

Is this the Sears store brand we're talking about? If so, I would recommend staying away. WIth LCD prices dropping like a rock, you can get a much better quality and much better performing TV, for just a little more money. I would recommend, if he wants to spend as little as possible, going with some of the better "budget" brands like Polaroid and Westinghouse, or MAYBE even Sanyo or Ilo, with the Polaroid and Westy being the top TV's out of those 4.

Whats his budget? Give me a bit more info and I can throw ya some recommendations.

protRon?

You are probably looking at Protron (sic) not Proton. Proton makes good but expensive stuff while Protron (which is being sued by Proton for infringement) is pretty cheesy.

Yeah, thats probably it. In any event, its pretty much junk imo and not worth buying.

Hmm, thats not a lot of money to work with in that price range, but I would suggest: bestbuy.com

Are you sure it was Sanyo and not Samsung or Sony? I'm just asking because I haven't seen any Sanyo Plasma or LCD TV's at either my local BB or CC and a search of their websites is coming up empty. Whats the budget on the larger TV?

Neither Proton nor Protron make all the LCD TV's for other companies.

He is definitely talking about Protron, not Proton. The Protron sets are extensively sold on shopping channels like ShopNBC, but you can also see them at Sears. The dude at ShopNBC is full of all kinds of unbelievable statements, including the well-known fact that SD TV is 200 lpi; that plasma technology is completely outdated, with no reputable companies making plasma in a few years, and that his company, Protron, does indeed make most of the LCD sets in the world for all the brand names. None of this is true. Personally, I wouldn't buy his stuff just on general principles.

On the other hand, I still own a 20-year old Proton receiver that has served me well, and is still excellent for audio.

Steve

Yup. slksc is right.

I think he may be talking about that ShopNBC channel where that idiot constantly tries to sell 37" and 42" ProtRons, not Protons. He's always talking about Protrons like they're the best tv out there you can find which is complete BS (to excuse the term) since they barely have an 800:1 contrast ratio, not a whole lot of features, you don't really know what it looks like until you actually see it in person, I could go on. I would definitely stay away from PROTRON. We were almost convinced into buying one off of ShopNBC ourselves; that was until our common sense kicked in after a few searches on Protron ratings and some of the things reviewers have said go wrong with them. Even an operator at ShopNBC told us that they've gotten VERY mixed reviews about Protron LCDs. Not to mention the company is basically an illegal ripoff of an older and much more reliable company. I don't trust that tv dude seller guy as far as I could throw him, honestly. I don't like buying things that expensive from shopping networks anyway since I want to be able to see the darn thing in person before making a decision.

While it may be true that this guy's company makes tv's for other companies, he neglects to mention one major thing. The company makes 2nd rate LCD monitors for all 2nd rate companies, otherwise, you'd see him selling Samsung, Sony, and Sharp, except that they all make their own televisions which, in my opinion is much better since they focus on their own styles and can perfect their features and quality. Protron and the like, I merely refer to as "mongrel" brands. It's basically hit or miss with those tv's. Not saying you couldn't have a good experience with one, but you take a real risk investing well over $1500 for a tv that has questionable ratings. You'd be better off spending a little more for a tv from a company that has a more solid reputation for quality and customer service.

Plus, ShopNBC has horrible customer service, or so I've read from amazon reviews. I can safely say I've never purchased anything like a television from ShopNBC, although i have purchased an Initial brand portable DVD player from them and it works great. I still don't like the guy who sells the stuff, and I'd never buy a tv from him since the ones he sells are complete trash. The only advantage to ShopNBC are its value pays and it also makes you wonder why a 42" television is only $1699 or so. Not saying you can't find good deals on reliable televisions, but if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. So...ProtRon=bad idea.

Stick to more mainstream brands like Toshiba, Westinghouse, Sony, Samsung, or Sharp.

i picked one up, the 26" lcd from sears on sale to use pretty much exclusively with my xbox. i have hooked up a directv hd receiver to see what it looked like and i'm not impressed. for a game system i say yes, as a monitor you will view programming with on a regular basis no.

it works ok as a pc monitor as well...

Wal Mart sells Sanyos. Affordable. Not the best.

As I write this, ShopNBC is selling *2* 32" HD-ready plus a DVD plus a sound system for $1800. I thought they sold out of these...maybe these are returns

That sales guy is a riot. When selling the LCD..."best TV technology"...when selling DLP..."best TV technology".

I also love the "over 15 years, this TV only costs you 30 cents a day". Like it will last anywhere near that long.

Their computers and TV's are crap.

I've had the PLTV26 from sears since Feb 06, and it works well and looks pretty good. I've had it in the past using the progressive scan dvd player and looked damn good after adjusting the colors on it. Just a couple of weeks ago, I hooked up a HD receiver (sat-hd200) and it still looks pretty good to me. Maybe I got lucky and got the pick of the litter, but as long as it works and looks good, you'll hear no complaints from me.

Hi there!
Just picked up a PLTV-3250 [EDIT]. I needed it for a rental property I use seasonally. It has great specs, HD tuner, 1366x768 resolution, 8ms response time, 1200:1 contract ratio, has all the inputs and is wall mountable. Looks good in both cable and HD OTA. It is obviously not as nice as my mits 65813 but for the price and the purpose it was hard to beat. At the rate TV technology is changing and prices dropping I saw no need to spend more right now. [EDIT]

Stay away at all cost. I just returned the Protron PLTV3750 i bought yesterday from Sears after buying it at a closeout price of $899. Got i home and hooked up an antenna for over the air HDTV and a coax cable for standard cable and the picture was bad,also had a green tint to the picture that i couldn`t get rid of no matter what i adjusted. Also after using component cables to hook up my DVD player the set would lose signal using either component inputs. I found out after tugging and adjusting the component ends closet the set that this set`s input board must have a bad solder joint or a board not seated correctly.Sales accociate at the Sears pickup/return area told me in private that all of these sets the store has sold came back for the very same reason i returned mine. Either a terrible picture or a component connector problem. I`d suggest to anyone thinking about buying any Protron-NOT TOO!!!! You`ll be sorry in the end especially after lugging it back in it`s box all the way back to Sears.

I recently got a 32" Protron and am quite happy with performance, color, sound, etc. Only problem is that it didn't come with a D-4 cable and so I can't connect my Sony progressive scan upscale DVD player and use in component mode. I can only get composite right now. While the picture is pretty good, I know it can be much better. Any suggestions on where I can get a D-4 cable. I've tried Protron, Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, etc. and no one has it. Would appreciate your help. Thanks.

One year-old Protron 32" LCD is working fine. The model that I have has the speakers running across the bottom, under the screen. I've seen another model that has a similar (if not identical) model number has the speakers on the sides. I'm wondering if the complaints that I've read on the web are for this other model.

My only complaint regarding my Protron is that when changing from HD to standard mode channels the picture gets wavy. The only way to correct this that I have found is to reset the TV. A small hassle, but still...

FYI...Protron has changed it's name to SpectronIQ do to a lawsuit filed by Proton.Not sure if they have released any new models or just rooled the old one's over.