Last week an old friend messaged me over IM asking about my opinion on plasma TVs. I told him that I preferred LCD because of the higher resolution. I told him that the sweet spot is around 26-32 inch, which you can probably find a good no-brand one for under AUD$1,000. “But 26 inch is too small!”, he said. He wanted something big. “So I guess plasma is a better bet…” If you want something big and cheap, and can tolerate 852×480 DVD-like resolution, then I guess a 42 inch plasma for around $1,500 can be a good buy… (Note: here’s a useful document on LCD vs plasma TV from the Good Guys)

Until I saw this Highlander LCD TV from Deals Direct (which I initially posted on OzBargain).

• 102 cm / 40 inch LCD TV
• HD 720p resolution — 1366×768
• Brightness: 500 cd/m2
• Contrast: 1000:1
• Viewing angle: 178 degree
• Sound output: 10w x 2
• HDMI/D-Sub/RCA/SCART input
• $1,799! (+ $66 delivery)

Yup. A 40 inch LCD high definition TV under $2,000. Moreover, it comes with a DVD record with 80Gb hard drive, for FREE! (Well, we all know it is part of the price but…) A complete living room package where you can watch digital broadcast TV and record them. The only thing missing is a high definition set top box (something like this, also from Deals Direct). I wonder why they can’t be bundled.

Just in time for the Australian Open :)