Posted on 11/04/2009 8:49:48 AM PST by navysealdad
Wife's TV went out. Looking for a 42 in or bigger LCD or Plasma. Any ideals what brand you would recommended.
Also if you can go for 1080p rather than 720p. That is probably the difference between my living room TV and the Sony and Samsung both are 1080p where my living room is only 720p.
Also, stay away from the plasma tv’s - they don’t have the lifespan of a lcd.
Go to Amazon, ton of info and they have a super sale item every week.I bought two 52” Samsungs, which I’m vert happy with, last May as I had to go to digital. After researching the prices (store and internet) Amazon came ahead, and if you got your eyes open they slip in free shipping quite often.
Now dealing with Cablevision to properly hook everything up was a one week nightmare!
Yet...I've looked at the comments and found nothing worth even reading...especially those who state that they are readers and don't watch TV. One must wonder why they even bothered to respond at all!
At any rate, head for your local library; first, pull a copy of Consumer Reports that deals with new TVs and how to choose.
Once you've done a bit of "narrowing down", head for the library PCs, and look up the manufacturers of your selections on the net. Read the tech specs.
Then...look in your local newspapers to see what the prices are on the models you like.
You can also use the net to "purchase" the exact model you like (after actually looking at your model at a retail outlet - say "Best Buy"); sometimes, the pricing on the net is superior to that in retail outlets. But if you buy from the net, you'll have to wait for the time to ship and returning a "bum" unit can be a bit of a challenge.
Hope this helps....
I’m in the market too. I have an old 50” CRT projection model that’s gone on the fritz and needs replaced. I’m looking at LCD’s... but there’s so many on the market I still haven’t quite figured out what to look for.
I have a 42” plasma in another place, and it’s awesome, but nowadays plasma is pretty much on the way out. It sucks an enormous amount of juice and tends to burn-in. I use that one almost exclusively for movies.
The OLED models look good... but I think they’re still on the expensive side of the adoption curve.
Anybody got some advice on what to look for— what features or specs really matter in a 50-ish inch LCD?
Samsung 50” plasma has been very good to us. I get lots of comments on the great picture.
plasma getting cheaper cuz the technology is going away — being replaced by LCD and then LED / OLED.
plasma ARE high energy consumers AND will heat up a room.
We have both LG and a Sharp large format 1080 LCD HD TVs and are happy with both.
LEDs are the ‘next big thing.’ currently pricier.
OLEDs the next NEXT big thing. very VERY PRICEY.
NET: BUY an LCD 1080 TV at a good sale price. LG, Sharp and the VIZIO (WalMart brand) are all good. Think about how you will mount it on the wall or on a flat surface.
**AND** also buy a decent UPS/ surge protector ( I recommend the APC brand) to protect your investment. Plug your TV and your fancy schmancy cable box into the UPS. You’ll thank me later.
It IS the time parasite and there's NOTHING worth the time to watch, unless you are brain dead.
I wish my book shelves were deep enough to tuck one an way in there. (Then where would I put my books?) TV is a L A S T resort for entertainment and the MSM has made TV the L A S T resort for information as well! If I have ANY leisure time, I am with my book.
First, turn the TV off.
Second, choose from the following:
Make love with your spouse.
Read to your kids.
Paint the porch.
Change your oil.
Cut your elderly neighbor’s grass.
Ask your pastor what needs to be done.
Stop in to check on your out of work neighbor.
Meet with your neighbors about upcoming elections.
etc . . .
Repeat until the day is done.
Start over the next day.
Just make certain to not buy a Muntz!
slickdeals dot net in the hot deals section will show you the best possible prices you could find.
They also have a bunch of people on there that are tech gadget geeks that will be able point you in the right direction about LED vs. LCD vs. Plasma.
There is also a section on Black Friday deals that are coming out. If you can wait until then you will probably score a great deal.
I have no interest in the referenced website other than I use it a lot to save money
If you have a truly dark home theatre room, then consider a projection TV. Otherwise you’ll have to spend WAY TOO MUCH money for an HD project with sufficient lumens and contrast.
We have a truly dark home theatre room and project from a $1900 home theatre HD projector onto a 9 foot DA-LITE screen. Love it. This same projector would be a disappointment anywhere else in the house.
Hear, hear! The little 15-inch flat screens are very shallow. No deeper than a 15-inch computer monitor. Check ‘em out!
Ernest_at_the_Beach has HDTV ping list.
Read up about HDTVs here:
I found the forum pretty useful when I bought my TV/sound system. It was a few years ago, so I can’t recommend specific brands or anything.
See my post #27 for my experience and my opinion resulting from my experience.
If you buy a 1080P LCD from Sharp, Samsung, LG or VIZIO you’ll be pleased with the viewing and owning experience.
I *DO* strongly recommend the companion UPS to protect your investments.
Won’t hurt to go someplace like Best Buy where you can compare the lot side by side. Looking at CR narrowed us down to 3 brands, then seeing those 3 in operation at Best Buy helped us choose. Definitely go with 1080P.
Avoid Toshiba. Have had issues with mine, but since I purchased the service plan, it’s Sears’ problem.
I would not purchase size first, go with quality then size.. and always purchase the service plan.
Not sure of your status but if you can get to an NEX or AAFES exchange, purchase there. You should be able to get a slightly larger set (Sharp and Samsung come to mind) for the price of a smaller one in a civi store.
Can’t say this enough, regardless of where and what you purchase, read the online reviews and purchase a service contract. The sum total of all the repairs on our Toshiba would have purchased a newer, larger Sharp, but we purchased the service contract so it costs nothing but a tip for the guy repairing the set.
Sony Bravia 1080p. You can’t go wrong.
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