So I'm thinking of finally upgrading my old CRT tv. My only limiting factor is that I have a really cool TV cabinet, so it has to fit in it. Is there any database that would list tv's by overall size? I basically want the biggest smart tv that's less than 36" wide. So far the Vizio 39" is looking good, but I'm just curious of what else might be out there, but not curious enough to look up the specs of every tv made to find the width.
I'll advise you not to buy a smart TV. In a few years there will be a hilariously obsolete computer permanently stuck in your TV, which cost you more because of it.
Leave the "smart" part in an external box or HDMI dongle, so you can upgrade it.
There are no "smart TVs" yet. Only alpha and beta concepts of one.
I have a 35 1/2" hole. 39 and 40 inchers may fit, depending on the width of the surround on the TV.
Tim Baxter wrote: There are no "smart TVs" yet. Only alpha and beta concepts of one.
^^^What??
We have a Vizio Smart tv. I think the smart tv part is great. It get updates for so Netflix is still working great a year later. I don't think the Vizio part was the best to go with. Our Samsung tv is a better product all the way around.
Look through Cnet.com for their tv review and general knowledge portions of HDTVs and the like. I think it usually pretty good information.
Ross, I'm saying that we are currently where the mp3-player market was prior to the iPod. There are viable devices that people find useful, but they're all proof-of-concepts for whoever gets it right.
Streetwiseguy wrote: I have a 35 1/2" hole. 39 and 40 inchers may fit, depending on the width of the surround on the TV.
The current Vizio 39" is 34.56" wide, but the 40" is 36.13" wide. It's easy enough to look them up individually, but it's also kind of a pain in the ass when I'm looking at several different models.
And I see your point about the "smart" part of it. I have an LG blueray player that's not terribly old, but it's "smart" feature is already kind of funny. I can stream netflix, youtube, and two other services that I've never heard of and am not sure are still in existence.
Streetwiseguy wrote: I have a 35 1/2" hole. 39 and 40 inchers may fit, depending on the width of the surround on the TV.
Those may fit, but be aware the vertical of those is only about 20" - less than a similar CRT TV of similar width. The actual viewing area for non-HD programming will be small.
I know exactly what you mean, though. I have a nice entertainment center that limits the width of flat-screens I can buy. I've basically resigned myself to the fact it will have to go.
On the plus side, if it's like mine (stereo cabinet left, cabinets below the TV opening on the right) there are plans out there to turn them into nice toy kitchens for your daughter. I may do this to mine and put it on Craigslist. Unfortunately, they're pretty much junk for anything else as everyone and their mother has a similar unit. I see them on the side of the road with "Free!" signs all the time. 
I really like the Samsung Smart TV. Samsung makes a great product at a great price, and the Smart stuff help eliminate multiple remotes and wires and boxes. (I still have my Apple TV of course) If it is obsolete in a year, so what? You had a useless UHF dial for 50 years, just ignore it.
Tim Baxter wrote: Ross, I'm saying that we are currently where the mp3-player market was prior to the iPod. There are viable devices that people find useful, but they're all proof-of-concepts for whoever gets it right.
What I'm hoping/waiting for is a "smart TV" that essentially acts like a computer. The idea being I can take the "TV" view and shrink/expand it as desired with a internet browser runnign at the same time. Watch TV and surf on the same screen. I know guys have been running TV boards through computers for years doing this, but it would be nice to have a TV with the computer part built in.
I impulsively got a "smart" Vizio about this time last year after our decade old tube TV unexpectedly refused to turn on. Really wish I had saved the dough on a "dumb model" since I have 4 other devices in the same entertainment center that have the same capabilities (some even better). Not to mention the laptop with the HDMI port in the same room. Really didn't think that one through....
Spent years combing the spec sheet with our 28 5/8 in opening. Ended up with a TV that's 28 11/16. Very happy even with the tiny angle that it has to fit with.
But start with the spec sheets, but you'll HAVE to take a tape measure to the store.
Re- smart tv- we found a Sony that was not smart, but with the LED and the bigger screen, it was only $250. Way worth it. We mostly have Sony stuff, but only got this one as it's the narrowest TV with that screen. Well, 6 months ago, it was.
alfadriver wrote: Spent years combing the spec sheet with our 28 5/8 in opening. Ended up with a TV that's 28 11/16. Very happy even with the tiny angle that it has to fit with.
That's not a TV... that's a computer monitor. 
In reply to Ian F:
I know. But that's the space we have. Better than the 26" it replaced.
i used to think i wanted to find an old 25" or so cabinet tv, remove the guts, and put in a modern flat screen of some kind because i've always liked the console tv form factor- it's not just tv, but it's also furniture.. then i realized that a 40" tv is "small" these days and kind of gave up on that..
I bought a TV that was too big for the oak entertainment center. Sawzall was the answer.
The answer here is really the death of the entertainment center as we know it. I too am facing the fact that with my next TV I will have to update (sacrifice) the way it is displayed which will result in lost storage and/or an investment in concealed wiring.
In reply to stuart in mn:
For all the retro people out there, if you could find a good one of those cabinets, it would be an interesting fit to put in a modern LED TV + good speakers in the cabinets + using the extra space for other electronic stuff. It would still look cool in some 50s era living room homes.
I took this picture to showcase the damage the morons who shipped the TV did to it, but if you look at the "table" that the TV is sitting on, it used to be a 4' tall entertainment center with doors that closed to hide everything. It housed a ~26" tube TV for years before we got the LCD. It was a cheap Walmart/Ikea style particle board cabinet. I disassembled it, cut the sides and back down on the table saw, then glued and screwed the top back onto the now shorter sides. We used this thing for over a year before someone gave us a nice smaller buffet that we repurposed into an "entertainment center."
This was one of Samsung's first "smart" TVs, from '09 or '10, it has what they call "Widgets" built in, you can get news, weather, some games, and Pandora, I think you can (could) download more. The widgets are slow, clunky and are never used, unless I accidentally press the button, then I'm angry that I have to wait on the stupid widgets to load before I can exit it. We have an Xbox 360, Wii, HTPC, Roku, a few laptops, etc. the Smart TV features have little appeal to me.
I had two really nice entertainment centers that held "biggest CRT at the time" 36" tvs. I saw the writing on the wall for them and when I divorced in 2010 they stayed with the ex. I now have a 55" LG mounted on the wall and Ikea floating cabinets under it to store/hold all the daily detritus. Much better and nicer IMO.
The bigger tv is well worth ditching your obsolete furniture.
In my living room, a 40" is plenty big. I don't like the huge things in a small room- its like sitting in the front row at the movie theater. Depending on how its broadcast, I find lots of shows come in on my 36" crt letterboxed anyway, so the actual picture in a 40" ends up being quite a bit bigger.
I'm also attached to my "handmade by me" (from a kit) birch entertainment center...
Streetwiseguy wrote: In my living room, a 40" is plenty big. I don't like the huge things in a small room- its like sitting in the front row at the movie theater. Depending on how its broadcast, I find lots of shows come in on my 36" crt letterboxed anyway, so the actual picture in a 40" ends up being quite a bit bigger. I'm also attached to my "handmade by me" (from a kit) birch entertainment center...
That's kind of the situation I'm in. The room doesn't really need anything bigger than a 39", and I like the cabinet, so I'm not in a hurry to get rid of it. And yeah, half of the stuff I watch is letterboxed on my old 27", so it's REALLY small. And the stuff I download is usually intended for 16:9 aspect ratio, so when I watch it everything looks really tall.
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