School me on TVs... v.Black Friday

[CheapXJ]

mitsu dlp.

dont get a diamond, bulbs dont last.

the bulbs for the new sets are $99

but if you're a pig, and your house is dusty/dirty, clean the bulb every month.

or wait for laservue technology to saturate the market. NOTHING compares. damn laser TV looks more real than real life.

if you want it on the wall get a samsung LCD.

personally, I hate plasmas. I'm sick and tired of replacing y-sus and buffer boards in these damn things. if you MUST go plasma, panasonics are the most reliable.

and for the love of god don't buy it at walmart. I don't know if walmart specifically orders lower quality stuff or they beat everything around in the trucks/warehouses, but when it comes to electronics, there has to be a hidden reason that they're able to sell some things cheaper.

if you have a LOCAL INDEPENDENT RETAILER near you, support them this holiday season. generally this will be the place you call to fix the junk set you got from a big-box retailer.

this is my opinion based solely on my experience over the past 3 years as a TV repair man.

if it ain't sharp, samsung, mitsu or panasonic, it's junk.

yes pioneer plasmas (specifically the kuro) are probably the best looking sets out there. but I don't think they have the quality to justify the price.

 

[its840]

and for the love of god don't buy it at walmart. I don't know if walmart specifically orders lower quality stuff or they beat everything around in the trucks/warehouses, but when it comes to electronics, there has to be a hidden reason that they're able to sell some things cheaper.

they do.... search the internet you will find allot of info about that subject on the net...

also vizio is a good product for about the first yr.. then they crap out rather fast.. i work at sears (not in tv dept) but the vizio is the most warrantied tv set they sell...

 

[igotanxj]

Theres a lot of over-generalizing in this thread. Plamsas don't suck power, have ghost images, veiwing angle issues, and heat the room up. I've got a 42" 1080i Phillips plasma flat screen which is a couple years old now, and it wasn't top of the line to begin with. I have never witnessed any of these issues. You can watch it at any angle without an issue. It puts off heat, but IMO not any worse than any other tv I've owned, and being that its 42" its really not bad at all for a bigger tv. The only issues I've witnessed as far as the screen not able to keep up is actually not the TV at all, its from my DirecTV HD reciever. It comes in grainy at first, then a split second later comes in at HD quality. I guess a little box trying to match up signals from 5 satellites can't do it lightning fast! When you watch action movies its especially noticable when the screen is changing frequently, but like I said, its the Directv reciever, not the TV. When I watch movies on DVD it doesn't happen. One thing is for sure, they are as heavy as a SOB! I think mine is about 150lbs.

Bottom line is, with the market being so competitive right now to have the top tv model out, anything you buy is going to work just fine as long as its a known brand

 

[JeepFreak21]

Well...
Fry's had a 32" LCD that was advertised only as "Major Name Brand"

for $388.

We took a gamble on it... got to Fry's at 2:45am and stood in line until 5am. The Fry's associate pointed us to a Dynex (or some crap) TV as the one in the ad. Luckily, we have been to Fry's before and knew that most of their employees are worthless. So we grabbed a 32" Samsung at the same time... and the Samsung one turned out to be the one for $388!

This is the one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8742818&type=product&id=1202648987833

We made it back to bed by 6:15am

Thanks for all the advice,
Billy

 

[.40CalPatriot]

I'm leaning heavily toward the samsung 42" 720p plasma sometime in the next week or two. They're on sale at BB right now for $799.

Same here. I have had my eyes on that one for a while.

I have read that if the TV is 42" or smaller you will be hard pressed to see the difference between 1080 and 720. If you start hitting 50" and bigger it is noticeable but you really have to look for it. We have been looking for a 32" for the bedroom and I honestly cannot tell the difference between the 1080 and 720. I think we are going with a Visio LCD for the bedroom.

Yeah due to the pixel size difference between 50 and up and 50 and smaller 720 is perfect for anything smaller than 50

 

[RichP]

One thing I am going to do is pickup a dedicated 1000va UPS for mine. Most of my neighbors have had their LCD's die within 2-3 years and of the two I looked at it was Power supply issues.

In my area I hear my UPS's on the computer and network devices kick on at least 2-4 times a day from either/or low or high power or both. I have smaller UPS around the house for the alarm clocks and such, those 9v batteries don't do squat and I'm tired of having to reset the time. I'd get one for the microwave but don't have room for another dishwasher sized box around the kitchen

And as far as Walmart, Home depot and such having different quality products from regular stores, very true, compare the metal housings on the Ariens snow blowers at Home depot to a regular retailer and just look how much thinner the steel is on the HD version, same with walmart. Thats one of the reason so many regular lawn and garden shops stopped carrying them, they sell a cheaper model with the same model name and the local shops can't even come close in price.

 

[tbburg]

One thing I am going to do is pickup a dedicated 1000va UPS for mine.

AWESOME advice. I worked in a small office in Ohio for a while. We had every kind of computer problem known to man, until we installed UPSs. End of problems. Great advice for any expensive electronics.

And as far as Walmart, Home depot and such having different quality products from regular stores, very true,... ..., they sell a cheaper model with the same model name and the local shops can't even come close in price.

The "big box" retailers have gotten so big that larger manufacturers can run special production runs for them. It's not just the product name, Mod. numbers will match and everything. Exterior looks will be the same. The guts are junk. Walmart/HD/younamit demands a price concession, they get it with a cheaper product. Check the warranty info. by serial number. Hoover is a great example. 'Year warranty on all their products, except the ones sold at Walmart(3 months) Only way to tell the dif is by serial number.


Enjoy the new TV.

And get a UPS for it.

 

[steed76]

I'd like to add a little to this thread... I have just gone through this versame thing.. there is a WEALTH of info over at avsforums.com! I just recently (last 2 months) purchased a 52" Samsung 1080 LCD tv! It's hanging on the wall! Absolutely breathtaking picture quality woth all the options I could want and more!! Model number LN52A750 if you would like to check it out.. and you can find them on sale now.. for around the 2600.00-2900.00 mark. good luck it took me about 4 months and looking at about 60 diff tv's to find the right one.

 

[FordGuy]

I own a 57" plasma 1080p and a 50" 1080p LCD, My plasma kicks ass. I like the LCD when its extremely bright in the room, but the LCD does not come close to my plasma. I also have 4 other LC D's to compare it to.

 

[markw]

I've got Sony's at the house and they're great. I love my 52" Sony KDL52W4100, beautiful picture. Buying a Vizio is like buying a harbor freight TV, very cheap components used to keep the cost down, you get what you pay for.

 

[bigalpha]

Found this while stumbling:
http://www.obsessable.com/feature/lcd-vs-plasma-vs-dlp-whats-the-difference/

 

[DeftwillP]

Well, I was going to go with the panny plasma over samsung after a little more research. I wanted the 1080p 42" at bestbuy for $899 but they didn't have any in stock or in the warehouse. I went with the 720p since I won't be doing the bluray thing.

Here's my tv(when it gets to the store on Tuesday )
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8722448&type=product&id=1200703056233

I also picked up the Panny HTIB thats $325 with online discount:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8724339&type=product&id=1200703057742

Up-Convert FTW!