My advice would be:
Don''t go to showrooms to compare picture quality. That tells you very little.
Take professional reviews with a grain of salt.
Consumer reports is worthless.
Best web site for learning more and the best user reviews: AVSforum
2005 Sharp 26in LCD HDTV, 2007 Philips 47in LCD HDTV, 2009 LCD 32in HDTV. All run 24/7 and no problems. You can download updates for your TV from the Philips website via USB flash. Once you go LCD you don’t go back. No more lines or tiny squares.
If your main concern is power usage get an LCD, if your top priority is picture quality then go with the plasma. No LCD will give you the PQ, black levels, color accuracy or viewing angle of a good plasma. Viewing angles on LCDs suck. The LCD manufacture’s specs will tell you can watch the LCD from 140-176 degrees off center, that is BS. One consideration though concerning the plasma, how bright is the room you are going to have the TV in? LCDs can be turned up to torch mode and overcome high ambient light, plasma do not do as well under those situations. Normal day time light is not a problem, but if the TV is in a room with massive large windows opposite it then you may want to go with the LCD.
If you are putting it in a room that has windows and/or lighting that you can reposition, then LCD is the best technology (very few LCD's have any glare at all - with my Samsung LCD being one of the few exceptions unfortunately :( ).
Just my two cents.
BTW, a Sony PS3 is the perfect compliment for an HDTV. It can add blue-ray, Internet connectivity, and games with one purchase. However, one should also get the $15 remote control for it so that you're not using a game controller to play movies.
Get at least 240 hz. I personally like Samsung.
Being ignorant of the particulars, I can still say I love Panasonic products.
To keep the cost down , this might be worth a look, or not.
and I have no connection with them.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4517143&Sku=T24-4232
Check out this month’s Consumer Reports if you can.
Don’t get a plasma. The picture is too blurry.
Go high end.
There are many highly rated LCD televisions available. An advanced version will supersede virtually every one of them in a few months so buy units with advanced features.
Look for 240 Hz refresh and LED backlighting and big. Possibly add Internet movie streaming.
Even with these new features, later models will have something you wish you had. Consider what is coming; Organic Light Emitting Diode displays thinner than a credit card, DLP HDTV in 3D, wireless media transmitting, and features we don’t even know we want at this time.
An alternative that also has merit is to buy a lower cost Visio, which is an excellent television, and wait it out. If you are buying a 32 inch or smaller screen you don’t need 1080P, 480P is fine. People have got along with 60 Hz refresh just fine for many years. You may find great sales as the stores have to sell off inventory to make room for the latest. All the new features you now see in a few models will soon be standard in all models.
Capitalism's competition and resulting economy of scale ensures we will always be able to buy the absolutely latest possible technology at the absolutely lowest possible price. That is unless a menace to the nation persuades us that a socialist agenda will improve us. Be grateful, not spiteful, that there were people who could afford these televisions before you could. Their ability to afford them when they bought is why you are able to afford them now.
God bless America and God bless Capitalism in a Republic guaranteed by America’s Constitution.
480P is not fine. I meant to say 720P is fine.
Of course, if you need the TV for the tuner so you can watch cable, then it won't be as nice. But if you have satellite, I'd recommend going with a projector.
They rule.
(No,I don't work for Sony or sell them)
Go for Vizio. American made. I have one and it’s awesome. Prices are very good too.
If I were to buy a small set today, I’d probably go with one of the Panasonic Viera line of plasmas. The 42” S1 1080P monitor, for example, is selling for c. $725 on Amazon today – with free delivery and no sales tax, a pretty attractive price, and well within your budget.
Plasmas are superior to other display technologies in just about every video performance parameter that can be named. LCDs may equal or surpass plasmas some day...but that day is not today, or even tomorrow.
Making a decision based on what you see in a store (other than in a dedicated high-end emporium where the set has at least a chance of being properly adjusted) is all but useless. Walmart, CostCo, Best Buy, et al., do not even attempt to adjust their displays for maximal quality, so 99% of the time you’re comparing one awful picture to another in the worst environment imaginable.
One of the best $20 you can spend to assure you’re getting the best from your set is to buy a calibration DVD, such as Digital Video Essentials, Spears and Munsill, or the AVIA calibration disc. Although a professional ISF calibration will yield the best picture, many people balk at paying $250-$300 for a tech’s home visit; the $20 calibration disc will get you close to ISF standards – money well spent, no matter what sort of set you own.
For another $20 you can pick up a screen cleaning kit from PhotoDon. I’ve tried just about all of the other screen cleaners (from Monster, Allsop, Rocketfish, etc.) and none of them work as well as the one from Photodon. Screens are like magnets for dust and grunge; cleaning the screen every month or two makes a big difference.
Pass on the HDMI cables sold in the stores; you can find some of the best video cables available online at a site called Monoprice, which sells high quality HDMI cables for the price of lunch at McDonalds. Friends have returned their $100 Monster cables to Best Buy once they’ve seen one of my spare Monoprices in their systems, for 1/10th the cost of Monster’s overpriced junk.
I have two Panasonic 42” Plasma.....I’m really Jonesing for the big one ......65”..........
I looked for weeks before I finally settle on the Vizio. Out of all the manufacturers I’d say it has the second best picture next to the Samsung. However, I couldn’t justify spending all the extra cash for the Samsung when the Vizio picture was not too far behind.
I have a 42” Vizio 1080P LCD and I love it! They are now out with LED TVs but I don’t know the merits of those. Enjoy the shopping.
Freeper RayChuang88, (newest ping list member as of today), is in the market for a HDTV, please share your comments and suggestions on LG, Samsung, Sharp, and Toshiba.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2451808/posts?page=1#1
LVD
This is a GREAT time for this kind of buy, and if you’re not shy about a 60Hz purchase, you can pick one up at an astonishing price.