Ultimate HDTV buying guide

Buying guide

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Your budget range

Whether you want a new bedroom set or a massive home-theater centerpiece, our CNET editors' guide gives you the full picture on shopping for a new TV.

Pricing parameters
Televisions are expensive beasts, but they fall into a few distinct price categories. Here's a cheat sheet that will help better align the set of your dreams with the reality of your bank account. Note that these prices reflect the latest street/online price as of this writing.

Less than $300
Curved tubes: up to 32 inches
Flat-tubes: up to 27 inches
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 20 inches

$300 to $500
Curved tubes: up to 36 inches
Flat tubes: up to 32 inches
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 27 inches

$500 to $750
Wide-screen tubes: 30 inches
Flat tubes: up to 36 inches
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 32 inches

$750 to $1,000
Wide-screen tubes: 34 inches
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 42 inches
Plasma TVs: up to 42 inches
CRT rear-projectionn TVs: up to 52 inches
DLP, LCD, LCoS rear-projection TVs: up to 50 inches

$1,000 to $1,500
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 46 inches
Plasma TVs: 50 inches
LCD rear-projection: up to 60 inches
DLP, LCD, LCoS rear-projection TVs: up to 56 inches

$1,500 to $3,000
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 52 inches
Plasma TVs: up to 60 inches
DLP and LCoS rear-projection TVs: up to 70 inches

More than $3,000
Flat-panel LCDs: up to 70 inches
Plasma TVs: up to 103 inches
DLP rear-projection TVs: up to 73 inches

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