Advise needed for a big screen TV

[DonP]

Did a search and found this thread, but I have different requirements.

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69865&highlight=big+screen+tv

I have a huge family room, 21'-8" x 17'-0". Here are the plans for the house. Page down to the Family Room.

http://www.schmidtbuilders.com/floorplans/manchester.asw

I want to place the TV over the fireplace. The fireplace mantel is 55" above the floor, and thanks to 9' ceilings, I have another 53" above that. It MUST be a wall hanger / flat panel.

The windows face west, and the room gets bright sunlight all afternoon / night even with solid blinds trying to block out the sun.

We watch lots of movies, but little in the way of sports. We'd like to be able to play games using this screen. It would be great to hook up a PC to the screen. We have Direct TV for service, but all of my 4 boxes are regular (we'd need to get an HDTV Receiver). I see in the old thread rjohnstone mentioned that DTV and Cable compress the signal.

I'll mention I'm not the most picky guy from hell. I just want it because we need a new TV. The TV in the master bedroom took a shit, and I need to move the TV in the family room to the master.

From the reseach I've been doing, it seems like LCD is what I need. It's brighter for a bright room, comes in 1080P for use as a computer monitor, and my neighbor says plasma's take a shit a lot faster then LCDs.

The good things I see for plasma is larger screen sizes available. I'm looking at 47" LCDs, but with plasmas I can get 60".

WalMart has a 47" Philips for $1,697

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5633686

Sam's Club has a 47" Vizio for 1,581.32 delivery (probably cheaper to pick up)

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=361629&pCatg=5883

I'd like to get a 60" TV, but I'm afraid a plasma won't work in my bright room. I'm open to any ideas. I'd like to keep the budget to $2500 or less.

Thanks!

[442w30]

52" LCD at TiderDirect $2500 + shipping

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2604786&Sku=S226-5200

[DonP]

52" LCD at TiderDirect $2500 + shipping
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=S226-5200

Do you think the move from 47" to 52" is worth an extra $800?

The specs look really good.

How hard are these to hang on the wall?

Should I not even think about plasma?

BTW I found this TV at Costco for $2,999.99. WTF do I pay a membership fee for? I hate this shit, and that's why I dropped my membership the last time. I bought a new membership a month ago, but now I'm thinking of returning it for a refund.

[surfdork]

Have you considered a Hi-Def overhead projector?

[442w30]

Do you think the move from 47" to 52" is worth an extra $800?

The specs look really good.

How hard are these to hang on the wall?

Should I not even think about plasma?

BTW I found this TV at Costco for $2,999.99. WTF do I pay a membership fee for? I hate this shit, and that's why I dropped my membership the last time. I bought a new membership a month ago, but now I'm thinking of returning it for a refund.

That tigerdirect one is a refurb I think. CostCo and sams are cool about you returning it to the store if it breaks under warranty, the other is 90 days and you go with the Mfger if it breaks (big hassle) or you buy a $200 warranty and $150 shipping (which gets you close to the costco price)

Personally, I don't think it's worthwhile to add the inches. At that size, non hi-def content looks BAD. And that is what you will mostly be viewing anyway.

I was considering the 47" Vizio too. For that price, it's hard to beat. Look for the "speed" I think that the Vizio is 600-800 and the cheaper panasonic 46" LCD at WalMart ($1398) is slower

[Firebird V]

I would not go bigger than a 52" TV with a room that is 22' by 17'. Just go with the one that gets the best rating and has the longest warranty.

[DonP]

Have you considered a Hi-Def overhead projector?

For the dark basement, yes. But in a bright room? I'm not sure that make sense. Would a projector look good in abright room? My dad had projectors for a very long time, and he had hassles with them for a very long time. He recently threw in the towel and got a flat screen.

[DonP]

52" LCD at TiderDirect $2500 + shipping
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=S226-5200

Now the price is 2,699! WTF, I was just viewing it and saw the 2,500 price. I guess it was a refurb and someone took it.

[rjohnstone]

Don, the newer projectors work great even in bright rooms.
Look for one with a contrast ratio of 1000:1 or higher.
Same rule applies to LCD. The higher the contrast ratio, the better the picture will look in a well lighted room.
The only draw back to projectors and DLP sets is the damn bulbs are not cheap to replace.

[YetAnotherOne]

Should I not even think about plasma?

I've been shopping for a new TV lately as well.

The biggest advantage with plasma seems to be the fact that they're capable of very dark blacks whereas LCDs will produce more of a dark grey rather than black. That would annoy me but YMMV.

LCDs are superior for gaming / computer use or other applications (think news channels with scrolling tickers in fixed locations) where you have static objects in fixed locations for long periods of time as they don't burn-in. Plasmas will burn in but the newer ones are allegedly more resistant and won't if you're even moderately careful with them.

The knock on plasma life seems to be a bit of misinformation. They lose brightness over time but the newer ones are rated such that 24x7 use for 7-ish years would see them drop to half their original brightness. So figure probably 15 years of very heavy usage before you really need to worry about it.

[442w30]

I've been shopping for a new TV lately as well.

The biggest advantage with plasma seems to be the fact that they're capable of very dark blacks whereas LCDs will produce more of a dark grey rather than black. That would annoy me but YMMV.

LCDs are superior for gaming / computer use or other applications (think news channels with scrolling tickers in fixed locations) where you have static objects in fixed locations for long periods of time as they don't burn-in. Plasmas will burn in but the newer ones are allegedly more resistant and won't if you're even moderately careful with them.

The knock on plasma life seems to be a bit of misinformation. They lose brightness over time but the newer ones are rated such that 24x7 use for 7-ish years would see them drop to half their original brightness. So figure probably 15 years of very heavy usage before you really need to worry about it.

One more negative about plasma, weight and power usage ~ 3X the power usage and heat output of LCD.

[atomic charvel guy]

I can help you guys out if you are interested in 42,48,and 56 inch factory seconds, and refurbs with warranty in the low to high 8 and 900's if you want to take that route. I'll just give you my supplier who is a huge electronics broker that i deal with everyday, i don't want anything or get in the middle and broker them, just offering you guys a really good deal if you don't want to spend a lot. LCD, Liquid Crystal screen, etc. all kinds

[iced_earth]

From the basic research that I did... Most of this has been covered already.
Plasma
------
-Better for sports/fast action (like a car chase in a movie) because it can respond faster.
-Heavier, more fragile
-Not good in bright environments because of the glass over the display
-can have burn in

LCD
---
-Lighter, easier to move
-Better for bright environments
-Cheaper to make in larger sizes

etc.
----
-Plasma life has improved a lot from the initial batches.
-You won't see much benefit for 1080p on 46" or smaller. You start to see improvements around 50" or so.
-Costco has a 2-yr warranty included. If Costco has a coupon special its usually a good deal.
-Check out the AVS forum for anything you ever wanted to know about a particular HDTV: http://www.avsforum.com/

[audiophile]

I'll second the avsforum.com site as a massive resource.

Go to slickdeals.net and read a few threads on some in the size ranges you're looking for additional price potential references.
2k seems quite overpriced.

[DonP]

From the basic research that I did... Most of this has been covered already.
Plasma
------
-Better for sports/fast action (like a car chase in a movie) because it can respond faster.
-Heavier, more fragile
-Not good in bright environments because of the glass over the display
-can have burn in

LCD
---
-Lighter, easier to move
-Better for bright environments
-Cheaper to make in larger sizes

etc.
----
-Plasma life has improved a lot from the initial batches.
-You won't see much benefit for 1080p on 46" or smaller. You start to see improvements around 50" or so.
-Costco has a 2-yr warranty included. If Costco has a coupon special its usually a good deal.
-Check out the AVS forum for anything you ever wanted to know about a particular HDTV: http://www.avsforum.com/

Actually, I'm finding the plasmas a lot cheaper than LCD. For example, a 60" 720p Vizio is $2119, and the 52" Sharp 1080p is $2898 at Sam's Club. I know there is a resolution difference there, but that is quite a bite more real estate for a lot less money.

Costco wanted $2999 for the same Sharp, but you get the 2 year warranty. I couldn't find out anything about the warranty policy at Sam's Club. At 7pm, all of the help had left for the day.

So now I'm thinking of extending my budget to $3K in order to hit the 52" screens with 1080p. I'll take a cruise through some of the links mentioned.

Thanks for the help!

Oh and Tommy, I might hit you up for a few 22" LCD monitors. I just need to figure out what I need first.