I'm sure this has been ask before? My TV got cooked yesterday by a power surge & I'll be needing a new one that won't break the bank. Which way to go? To many choices!! LCD? PLASMA? I'm not sure which is the best choice? I don't want something that will require a lot to get it up & running? If you had a HDTV does that mean you have to buy the service thru your cable company for the TV to work?


Thanks Bill

you will get so many opinions......

I like plasma. I have a 50 inch and a 42 inch plasma, and also have a 32 inch LCD in my bedroom. The plasma kills on the viewing angle and clarity, deep colors etc. IMO.

I have done a lot of research, and you can buy a 50" plasma (720) for $999.

Yes, Satellite or cable HD service is required. although there are several stations that broadcast HD over the air. Just try a 39.99 HD antenna and see what you get. I can get a few channels that way

I try to stay up on the new video hardware. I hear a lot of good about the Panasonic plasmas. From what I read plasma is probably the best choice.

I went with LCD tv. I have read that the plasma tvs are energy hogs compared to the lcds. If you stand near a plasma set you can feel a lot of heat emitting from it so that could be a clue that it does indeed use a lot of electricity. The picture is a little better than an LCD but my Sony Bravia suits my eye just fine.

I have a 40" Sony(1080HDTV)that has a good picture on basic cable(non digital BTW)and has a great picture with rabbit ears for the local digtal/HDTV broadcast stations. I also have a 32" Samsung(720HDTV)and it gets the on air digital/HDTV even with out the rabbit ears but the Sony's picture is better! :thumbsup:

Bill, a plasma tv is good in a room that has low light. If you have a room with a lot of light go with the LCD that is what I did.
I have tried them both and the LCD was the way to go in my living room because of the higher light level in that room.
Now for the bedroom I use a plasma because of the low light level.
Personally I dont like the plasma tv because even if you have the fastest refresh rate on them they are slow all of them, so watching fast action on a plasma is not as good if you were to watch it on a LCD.
Just my .02 worth

If you don't want to break the bank, I would suggest looking at a DLP LCD, the only drawback to them is they have a SLIGHT screen door effect, but I have had my 52" for 3 years and love it..

Thanks everyone. My thinking on the HDTV deal was it's something built into the tv but if you don't want that service thru your cable company thats ok but the tv still works with out buying this service? Is this correct thinking?:confused:

Yes you can have a HDTV in your house and still work on digital signal and you can always upgrade with your provider to the HD signal. :yes:

Yes you can have a HDTV in your house and still work on digital signal and you can always upgrade with your provider to the HD signal. :yes:

COOL:hurray:

I am looking at tvs and have been for tha past couple weeks.

The best buy I can come up with right now is a 42 inch Panasonic TH42PX80U at either $599 or $649 I can't figure out which is the actual price lol.
the best 50 inch I can come up with is the Panasonic TH50PX80U at $799.
Both of these are being advertised locally at Brandsmart for these prices.

I have learned that 1080p vs 720P makes no difference to the naked eye or to the overall quality of the picture at 50 inches or less when viewed from a distance of at least 9 feet. So don't let them talk you into the 1080P unless you just HAVE to have it.
I have heard people say that 720P actually looks better when viewing standard tv channels. My goal today is to go to brand smart verify the prices then take the ad to HHGregg who has a low price guarantee of 110% lol. So if I playmy cards right I will get a really good deal.

I am also looking into an extended warranty, 5 years for $130 seems like pretty good insurance to me. Especailly since current tv is dying and on its 2nd tube in 6 years.

mY WIFE & i WERE AT costco's. They have a 73 inch t.v. for $2.000 . I paid that for my 62 in. yes its a 73 inch LCD. I love mine. Also bought a 32 in LCD for the bedroom. Christmas present for the both of us. from both of us. I like either one.

1st question is WHAT SIZE screen do you want? If you buy a screen that's too small, you'll regret it.

http://www.cnet.com/hdtv-viewing-distance/

2nd question is what will you watch? Reg (480 dpi), HD (720 and 1080 DPI)

Almost all flat TV's will have one (or all) of the HD capabilities, but if you go over 32" screen size, you want 1080 capability. The newest 1080 is 1080p (blu-ray).

3rd question is where will you be watching?

Screen brightness will be a major factor if your viewing area is very brightly lit (sunlight). Most TV's will get washed out in bright sunlight, some don't. Are you a "gamer"? Movie fan? Sports fanatic? Soap opera?

4th question is what's your budget?
There are some incredible deals out there now, but you can easily get suckered into buying the wrong kind of TV if you plan on keeping it for 10 years.

Right now plasma TV's offer the most outstanding image, but they cost the most, plasma screens "eat" them selves (dim and degrade over time), newest LCD's are nearly as good (+/- a tiny %). DLP's are dinosaurs in today's world, but if you are going to get a VERY large screen (65"+) they still kick a** and are dirt cheap compared to others that big.

DO NOT buy ANYTHING unless you can watch the picture first. Some really great name TV's suffer from low brightness, bad "black" (shows as dark grays instead of dead on black) and moire effects issues (where gradients show up as concentric bands instead of smooth, even gradients).

Do your homework as Mid January is the time for yearly inventorying at almost ALL companies. They want to dump them now, now, not February now.

Just about all TV's now are flat-screen, and if you are used to watching a tube-type tv, then you are going to be dis-appointed with the picture with standard definition programming. When I upgraded, I knew that I wanted HD quality picture, I like the LCD over Plasma, and from I learned, they last longer, have quicker refresh rate, but compared to plasma, they cost alot more per square inch, I seen a 72" Sharp Aquos the other day, price was $13,000 , you can get plasma's and dlp alot cheaper. You can hook up any DVD to a flat-screen and the picture is amazing, compared to standard programming through cable. I would plan for the future, staying in your price budget, but get something that won't be too outdated in a couple of years. I bought a 46" Sharp Aquos, and have HD service through Direct TV, along with XBox 360, and an Onkyo amp, and everything is hooked up through HDMI cables, so much easier then the old days. Go to www.crutchfield.com, and you can learn alot about home entertainment sytems, I use them for all of my electronic needs, including most of the system in my Chevelle. You can also go to www.bestbuy.com, for info too.

I own two Polaroid 26" LCD 720p with a built in DVD player, and it is much better than my older TVs. I think I paid under $400 each. It has several input connections and can even be used as a computer monitor. If you stay under 40" the P and I rating really doesn't matter but if you get into the larger 42" to 60" LCD then you want the higher resolution like 1080p.

Back from BEST BUY & this is what I bought! Sony Bravia KDL-46w4100 LCD DIGITAL. A little on the high $$$ side but you get what you pay for.:hurray: 1,599.00 plus $249.00 to be covered for four yrs.

I have learned that 1080p vs 720P makes no difference to the naked eye or to the overall quality of the picture at 50 inches or less when viewed from a distance of at least 9 feet. So don't let them talk you into the 1080P unless you just HAVE to have it.
I have heard people say that 720P actually looks better when viewing standard tv channels.

I have also heard this but beg to differ! My brother and I have nearly identical tv's, both samsung, both 50", both lcd, his is 720p and mine is 1080p. When watching tv, you are correct, there is no noticeable difference. However, hook up my ps3 (the reason I got the 1080p) and it is quite obvious! If you watch any HD movies on a good blu-ray player, you will notice the difference in the high action scenes. In fact, his tv looked liked 20 year old technology during the action sequences in Transformers.

So, from my experience, if you just watch tv, even the hd channels, 720p is fine. If you watch a lot of HD movies or play ps3 in hd (xbox games are not true hd) the 1080p is the way to go!

And to the original poster, if your cable company offers a free hd trial, I would suggest you not try it unless you have good will power or are ready to upgrade to HD channels! I can't stand to watch non-HD channels anymore, I feel like I'm looking at polaroids when I watch normal cable:D

I purchased the Sony Bravia 52 inch this past July. I absolutely love it. I think you made the right decision. I have owned nothing but Sony TVs and they never quit. You are right when you say, "You get what you pay for". Good luck with your new TV.

I bought a 27 inch sony when they were the first tube TV that size on the market. After 4 years the picture tube went bad. 4 years! I paid $800 for that TV. How many of you guys have Samsungs and other import brands that are over 8-10 years old and never requred any service?

A few years ago I bought my parents the last TV they would ever need. I bought them a Sony 32 inch tube tv. Exactly 1 month after the warranty ended the power supply went bad. I think the tv was 13 months old. Sony would not warrant it at all since it was 1 month over warranty and more or less told me "tough s**t". The repair cost would have been $220, so I tossed it and bought a cheap RCA which is still playing today, 6 years later. So much for Sony quality! The sony's I bought in the 70's lasted 10-15 years! Not anymore. If I ran the company and a customers tv went major bad at 13 months I would have my people fix it! Unless I didn't care about future business.

I bought a 27 inch sony when they were the first tube TV that size on the market. After 4 years the picture tube went bad. 4 years! I paid $800 for that TV. How many of you guys have Samsungs and other import brands that are over 8-10 years old and never requred any service?

A few years ago I bought my parents the last TV they would ever need. I bought them a Sony 32 inch tube tv. Exactly 1 month after the warranty ended the power supply went bad. I think the tv was 13 months old. Sony would not warrant it at all since it was 1 month over warranty and more or less told me "tough s**t". The repair cost would have been $220, so I tossed it and bought a cheap RCA which is still playing today, 6 years later. So much for Sony quality! The sony's I bought in the 70's lasted 10-15 years! Not anymore. If I ran the company and a customers tv went major bad at 13 months I would have my people fix it! Unless I didn't care about future business.

I sure hope I don't have any of the problems you mentioned.

I sure hope I don't have any of the problems you mentioned.

you will..
sony has an"outlet story" 30 miles from here..
that sells only referb units.. of sony products
and it's wall to wall.. full of referb junk..
sorry
pioneer elite , would've been a better choice,, even if it was last years model.

You sure have it out for sony!:D Positive Thinking!

Well I got my 42 inch Panasonic TH42PX80U at $599 I don't have a PS3 or any other game console and Blue Ray is something i will think about when my current DVD player dies, which should be years lol.
They will deliver and set it up tomorrow!
Still have to call cable company and get my HDTV cable box, then I will be set.

I strongly suggest at least getting a upconverted dvd player. We bought a toshiba regza 46" LCD for Xmas. $1199 with a 3 year warranty included. We didnt want to pay for a blueray so just went with the upconverter. tried the old stand by dvd player vs the upconv. dvd, there is a big difference. Turns out wally world had phillips upconvert dvd players for 43 dollars. The HDMI cables over coax helps alot too. there again Costco has a 2 12 foot cable + screen care kit for 39 bucks. vs. what the electronic stores try selling you.
And what everyone says is right, the regular broadcast over cable really kind of sucks on these TV's. jim

Back from BEST BUY & this is what I bought! Sony Bravia KDL-46w4100 LCD DIGITAL. A little on the high $$$ side but you get what you pay for.:hurray: 1,599.00 plus $249.00 to be covered four four yrs.

We bought the same one and love it.
Purchased it directly from Sony, with free shipping that included flying it into Tucson airport, trucked to our house and carried into the living room.

Thanks for all the help everyone! It will take some time to adjust to because right now I'm missing that old 50" big screen. The new TV'S, it's like the heads are cut off.HAHA!

Personally I dont like the plasma tv because even if you have the fastest refresh rate on them they are slow all of them, so watching fast action on a plasma is not as good if you were to watch it on a LCD.
Just my .02 worth
Actually the opposite is true, the LCD sets have problems with slow refresh rates which tend to blur fast-action scenes. Plasma and LCD both have have pluses and minuses as already pointed out. Consumer Reports is a good place to check out the types and brands available, and evaluate what type would be best suited to your viewing habits. My recommendation (for a big room anyway) is buy the most resolution and screen size you can afford in either type. Non-HD programming looks like crap compared to HDTV. I have 42" and 50" Panasonic plasma sets and couldn't be happier.

i have 2 panasonic plasmas..42" & 50"..they are great, and they are only 720p. HD picture (TV) is stunning, but I guess more hardcore types might insist on the 1080p versions...it all depends on what you mostly watch. my main complaint with them has been heat and a little bit of glare, but nothing that would make me even come close to regretting them, they are outstanding.

today i broke down and bought a sony bravia kdl52w4100. mainly because it will be used for my kids' wii and they have a tendency to walk away from things...i am leary of that with a plasma, as they can be prone to burn in (although most now have protection built in, or that is programmable thru the menus)...also the room where i am putting this one is upstairs and tends to be a bit on the warm side normally, so the less heat that i throw off into the room the better, hence the lcd. the picture looked great in the store, don't have it all set up at home yet. i also considered the 6 series samsung, it was $100 less, but they were out of stock.

Back in september I bought a 47 inch LG 1080p LCD and I love it. I don't watch TV enough to know if their is that big of a diffrence or not. The room it is in is highly lit, so plasma would have sucked for me.

For the record, in the last 10 years I have gone through 3 Samsung TV's. I will never, ever, ever get suckered into buying another one of their absolute POS products. Samsung is pure garbage plain and simple.

Jeff

You sure have it out for sony!:D Positive Thinking!

when I was looking for a t.v.
I was told of the "outlet store"
so I fighured I'd save..
walked in and looked around..
tons of stuff..
didn't buy a t.v. but a radio for work..
wanted to do homework on t.v.'s before I picked one..
got home and the radio box was marked referb..
fine..I was like it's for work..
went back to look at t.v.s again..
and every box in the place is marked referb..
so I passed on the sony..
my sony dvd player lasted 10 movies..(not referbed)
good luck tho..
all the sony's must be built by union workers <rolls eyes>

that last line is for all the guys here that cry that unions are the reason for the big three down fall

about two years ago i had the bright ideal of buying my dad a new tv for the living room. current tv was a rca 36" tv with surround sound. jan 2 i got up early and placed an order though one of the elec. stores for a 42" plasma Sylvania edtv for $899. from what i read plasma is your best choice if you watch alot of movies. last year or so i bought myself a new tv i went from a 27" panasonic, to a 32" lcd akai with a built in dvd player for $329. even my lcd tv puts off heat after its been on for a while. lcd is good for playing video games as you dont have to worry about burning imagines onto the tv.

I replaced my 50" 1980s Pioneer with a Mistubishi 57" DLP just under 2 years ago.
Quite happy with the picture
Upconvert DVD is a good idea as well-----makes a big difference in the DVD.

Lamp does not last too long in this TV-----went out Christmas Eve last year.
Gonna buy another before it goes out again----cause it usually takes over a week to get the service guy out to my house.

Was close to 400 for the warrantee----if I recall, and they only will honor one lamp.
First lamp I got myself thru Mitsubishi
I'll buy another and then put in a service call to have Best Buy honor THEIR warrantee.

46" Sony Bravia LCD HD 1080 here. We like Sony products, went to the store and did the look-see test from front angles, etc. and felt it had the best picture quality. My kids have a 50" or so Samsung DLP, a lot of the picture seems, too real with black edges when there is high contrast images (building or person against sky for instance). I was leary of plasma life, we tend to hang on to stuff a long time. You will need to upgrade to HD signal if you have cable, cost me $13 per month more with my existing tv and internet access. Big difference, once you see the difference between HD and regular shows you will not regret upgrading.

46" Sony Bravia LCD HD 1080 here. We like Sony products, went to the store and did the look-see test from front angles, etc. and felt it had the best picture quality. My kids have a 50" or so Samsung DLP, a lot of the picture seems, too real with black edges when there is high contrast images (building or person against sky for instance). I was leary of plasma life, we tend to hang on to stuff a long time. You will need to upgrade to HD signal if you have cable, cost me $13 per month more with my existing tv and internet access. Big difference, once you see the difference between HD and regular shows you will not regret upgrading.

Thanks. Good info. When I bought it yesterday I was given (free three months of HD so I'll get a chance to try it out before paying for it.:thumbsup:

46" Sony Bravia LCD HD 1080 here. We like Sony products, went to the store and did the look-see test from front angles, etc. and felt it had the best picture quality. My kids have a 50" or so Samsung DLP, a lot of the picture seems, too real with black edges when there is high contrast images (building or person against sky for instance). I was leary of plasma life, we tend to hang on to stuff a long time. You will need to upgrade to HD signal if you have cable, cost me $13 per month more with my existing tv and internet access. Big difference, once you see the difference between HD and regular shows you will not regret upgrading.

Im going FROM the 50 inch samsung DLP TO the 52 inch Sony Bravia 1080. DLP was nice while it lasted and when I first picked it up but man the Sony is above and beyond in terms of audio and video quality. Would of kept the samsung but had 14 repair visits and 5 parts installed and the damn thing is still broken. So sears is replacing under their lemon warranty and I made out like a bandit. 3 yr old DLP being replaced with a brand new bigger, better, newer TV at no cost. My experience with samsung tvs and flat panel computer monitors has been on the extreme downside. Lots and lots of them at work and I just cannot stand em. Failure rate, picture quality, refresh rates...just subpar, IMHO, all around. I cant say that about any other electronics I have dealt with. Some bad, some good but never a pattern like I have seen with Samsung.