Forced to join the flat screen TV crowd

[DalyTek]

That sounds pretty good. My problem is that this room with 3 large windows has the setting sun lighting it until as late as 10pm in June.

Is you room very bright? I heard LCD is better than plasma for bright rooms.

No, my room is not very bright. The screen is very bright and displays well in pretty much all lighting conditions, but as with most plasma screens, is quite reflective so that may be a problem when it comes to lighting.

Just stay away from from those weird brands...Vizio and LG and others are having bad reps. Nice quality display but bad failure rates.
Oh, and definitely try to find something with a refresh rate higher than 60 Hz so you don't wind up with motion blur if you go with an LCD.

[Shawn Lutz]

I wouldn't buy anything Sony. I used to pay a premium for electronics but after getting fucked out 2600 dollars for a TV that lasted a few years I would touch Sony. Check out this FB site http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/I-H...V/182875766612 After goinf thorughh that bullshit I had to pay 500 more for a reduced rate replacement from Sony to replace my 55in set.

I have an LG and Samsung too and Sony isn't worth paying a premium price anymore...

[Robert Hendrix]

I wouldn't buy anything Sony. I used to pay a premium for electronics but after getting fucked out 2600 dollars for a TV that lasted a few years I would touch Sony. Check out this FB site http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/I-H...V/182875766612 After goinf thorughh that bullshit I had to pay 500 more for a reduced rate replacement from Sony to replace my 55in set.

I have an LG and Samsung too and Sony isn't worth paying a premium price anymore...

Absolutely. I wouldn't own anything Sony. I don't even own an Ipod

[Shawn Lutz]

I forgot to add I have a cheap Vizio from Wal-mart in the bedroom too and it has a great picture.

One thing you have to realize now a days your not going to have the same life expectancy like the old CRT's have. So don't spend a lot of money thinking you'll get 20 years out of them

[Drake S.]

SAMSUNG Been buying them for years . Cell phones TVs Digital video recorder , Digital Cameras. Even the Laptop I'm using right Now. All the same quality as Sony without the Sony $ tag

[Grim]

I have a 50" Panasonic plasma I got for... brace yourselves... $6000 ...

[Axewielder]

Get a Sammy! And no matter what you go with you can blow a goodbye kiss to the days of reliable televisions...

[RacerX]

Heh, I still have an old school (CRT) 32" Hitachi. It still works great, but I have been watching flat screen prices drop. Maybe next year...

[kramer]

Last year I bought A 47" samsung LCD from fred meyer.. 599 on sale Great TV!
currently they have 43" plasmas..720P..for 389..also great picture.

[DonP]

Ok guys, I almost bought a TV tonight but the wife took the Tahoe to the movies...

At Sam's Club a Philips 46" LED-LCD 240Hz for $698 and 12 months financing. It looked like it had a lot of inputs (4 HDMI, VGA, USB, Ethernet, RCA...) and the picture looked nice.

Now I hate Philips because I have a 27" Flat CRT that took a partial shit a year after purchase (4" of the top of the screen rolls back down on top of the screen).

Any suggestions on this? I was ready to hit the BIN right there. Tomorrow I'll hit up HH Greg and WalMart. Sadly no Fry's out here, just an overpriced MicroCenter.

[Scooter]

Go to Sams Club after the NCAA championship and buy a returned TV, someone always buys one for 2-3 days and will return it and you can get it for near half off. Actually, after any big sports game seems like. I've a HP 15" monitor I've had since '99 I think, still works good too.

[DonP]

Sorry to keep changing directions on you guys:

Both are $698 at Sam's Club.

51" Samsung Plasma 720p 600Hz HDTV Model: PN51D450

or

46" Philips LCD 1080p 240Hz HDTV Model: 46PFL5705D/F7


I was all set to buy the Philips last night but didn't have the right vehicle. My thoughts were the LED's would have a longer lifespan, the better resolution, lower power consumption, I have a bright room.


But I've been reading the AVS forums about the virtues of plasma and screen size (bigger is better appeals to me). I haven't really the need for high resolution so 720p seems ok, I have a square room vs. a rectangle, so a wider viewing angle seems important.


My room is bright (+1 to LCD)
My room is large (+1 to Plasma) 10' - 15' away from the screen
TV is watched a lot (+1 to LCD for low power, longer lifespan?)
Wide viewing angle (+1 to Plasma)


This TV will be used for movie and TV viewing. Some gaming with a Wii. We might try netflix streaming with the Wii (I haven't used netflix before - mostly redbox). Very doubtful PC usage because we have ample laptops. We use DirectTV for service; nothing HD. Not a big sports fan, mostly watch Sci-Fi, Horror Channel, and education channels (Discover, History, Millitary, Science).


The reason for the upgrade is that the 1998 32" Panasonic that was the largest TV in the house died. Considering that I'm just now upgrading, picture quality was never a high concern. I'd just like to get something that is realiable. I've seen many electronics die, so I'm not into spending a bundle every 2 or 3 years. $700 seems to be a good budget.

[dg]

Don, what worked best for me was to google for reviews by model # on the TVs that fit what I was looking for. There are lots of good resources. Almost everything out there now has good image quality out of the box, but you want to look at overall failure rate and how well the manufacturer handles warranty issues if something does go wrong. That varies a lot, and you can still get a bargain on a set with good reviews from a company with good support.

[DonP]

Yeah, after all what good is a TV that dies in a couple of years. I've been doing a lot of googling and research.

This is a link to the Philips TV spec brocure:

http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/4/46pfl5705d_f7/46pfl5705d_f7_pss_aen.pdf

This page had a link to the Samsung PDF:

http://www.abt.com/product/52310/Samsung-PN51D450.html?gclid=CP2ggfXA7KcCFQprKgodJk1SdA

After reading each of these, the Philips looks a lot more tech advanced (Wifi, more inputs, etc)

[atomic charvel guy]

Sam sung very loudly after he bought his, and so will Don if he does the same.