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In the market for a new HDTV

ToniousTonious Registered User regular
I'm in the market for a new television so I can finally stop bumming off my Dad's 54 inch plasma. My price range is somewhere between 1,000 and 1,400 USD. I checked out a few of the 50 inch plasmas at Wal-Mart and really liked this one Samsung Flat Panel I saw, had a pretty crisp picture compared to the others but I know that's more of the way they hooked it up and the cables/settings than the actually tv quality. Then I went and looked around Best Buy and Circuit City and found some similiar ones that varied a little in price/size by a few hundred dollars and a few inches, all of which are plasma. (I'm still a little skeptical about LCD tvs that big, I've done some small research and read reviews- although they've come a long way the general consensus seems to be that Plasma is still better than LCD when it comes to the larger tvs, but LCD beats plasma in the smaller tv area or... something. Anyway...) I mainly plan to play my 360/Wii on it, and watch some movies (No High-Def DVDs, but i still prefer having a High-Def tv over my old 34 inch tv.)

As a side note, I'll be paying for this tv off my Credit Card, which I just dropped the balance to 0 the other week. Took me a while to pay off my 3k of debt and now I'm ready to start it all over again. Or... I could get a tv from where I work. See, I'm employeed at a certain... "Pay us money for a certain amount of time and the merchandise we lent you will be yours" if you catch my drift, don't want to name them. I could get a tv from them but my selection will be limited to what is in the catalogue and/or what they ship to our store. Plus, I'd end up spending more than just buying it straight up from a place like Wal-Mart or Best Buy. In a few months I'll get a special employee only discount on the tv, but I dunno if I want to wait that long. @_@ Four months feels like a long time...I dunno, I worry so damn much when it comes to big purchases like this- you should have seen what a nervous wreck I was when I got my new car a few years ago. I guess what I'm looking for is some feedback and/or criticism from tech savy people on this forum. If I'm going to throw down 1k+ of my hard earned money I want it to be for a tv that will last me a while.

Tonious on

Posts

  • ASimPersonASimPerson Cold... and hard.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    First off, ask yourself: "Do I really need a 50" TV?"

    I got a 42" plasma last year. I don't regret it per se, but it's definitely too big for the kind of places I live in right now. A 37" would have been more suitable, and more importantly, cheaper.

    Also, make sure you really want a plasma. As I'm sure you know, they're exceedingly heavy and it's impossible to move one by yourself.

    As for recommending particular models, I can't really help. Go lurk over on avsforums.com and see what's popular there right now. And look out for deals.

    ASimPerson on
  • RoundBoyRoundBoy Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I'll chime in, because I'm buying in the next couple months...

    do more research.. a 50" tv at HD def is NOT going to be found for $1k - $1.5k... 720p is just fine for now, and a 42" LCD will approach that price.

    I would do your research on 4-5 models and prices you could walk away with, then go and see then IN PERSON. I would also wait until closer to the super bowl, because prices are already starting to go nuts with special deals.

    Why not wait for a best buy finance deal? like 1-2 years no interest? its much better then putting it on your card.

    Dell also has a 46" Sharp LCD with a blue ray player shipped for $1699, which is a good deal.

    RoundBoy on
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  • CrayonCrayon Sleeps in the wrong bed. TejasRegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    RoundBoy wrote: »
    I'll chime in, because I'm buying in the next couple months...

    do more research.. a 50" tv at HD def is NOT going to be found for $1k - $1.5k... 720p is just fine for now, and a 42" LCD will approach that price.

    What you say?

    http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HPT5054-50-Plasma-HDTV/dp/B000NEKORW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1200435924&sr=8-1

    Crayon on
  • That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
  • PbPb Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    That_Guy wrote: »

    $1000? Has anyone had experience with this set, or at least seen it in store? I might have to take a trip out to Best Buy and see this in person because that price is a little too nice.

    Pb on
  • That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Pb wrote: »
    That_Guy wrote: »

    $1000? Has anyone had experience with this set, or at least seen it in store? I might have to take a trip out to Best Buy and see this in person because that price is a little too nice.

    That TV is going to take up the entire fucking room. I hope you have a big house. Rear projection TVs also have burn-in issues and suck for their viewing angles.

    If none of those things bug you than get it, but I would want an LCD TV as I have very little room in my apartment.

    Edit: Wait, what in the hell is a "Rear-Projection LCD". I though it was one or the other, not both.

    EDIT EDIT: Looks like it is still fucking XBOX HUEG!

    That_Guy on
  • Mega PlayboyMega Playboy Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Have you put any thought into a DLP. If you don't plan on hanging your TV on the wall I say take a look at them.

    Mega Playboy on
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  • JragghenJragghen Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    That_Guy wrote: »
    Pb wrote: »
    That_Guy wrote: »

    $1000? Has anyone had experience with this set, or at least seen it in store? I might have to take a trip out to Best Buy and see this in person because that price is a little too nice.

    That TV is going to take up the entire fucking room. I hope you have a big house. Rear projection TVs also have burn-in issues and suck for their viewing angles.

    If none of those things bug you than get it, but I would want an LCD TV as I have very little room in my apartment.

    Edit: Wait, what in the hell is a "Rear-Projection LCD". I though it was one or the other, not both.

    EDIT EDIT: Looks like it is still fucking XBOX HUEG!

    Breakdown of projection tech:
    * CRT projector: Small CRT's create the image in the same manner that a traditional CRT television does, which is by firing a beam of electrons onto a phosphor-coated screen. The CRT's can be arranged in various ways. One arrangement is to use one tube and three phosphor (red, green, blue) coatings. Alternatively, one black-and-white tube can be used with a spinning color wheel. A third option is to use three CRT's, one for red, green, and blue.
    * LCD projector: A lamp transmits light through a small LCD chip made up of individual pixels to create an image. The LCD projector uses mirrors to take the light and create three separate red, green, and blue beams, which are then passed through three separate LCD panels. The liquid crystals are manipulated using electric current to control the amount of light passing through. The lens system takes the three color beams and projects the image.
    * Digital Light Processing (DLP) Projector: A DLP projector creates an image using a digital micromirror device (DMD chip), which on its surface contains a large matrix of microscopic mirrors, each corresponding to one pixel in an image. Each mirror can be rotated to reflect light such that the pixel appears bright, or the mirror can be rotated to direct light elsewhere and make the pixel appear dark. The mirror is made of aluminum and is rotated on an axle hinge. There are electrodes on both sides of the hinge controlling the rotation of the mirror using electrostatic attraction. The electrodes are connected to an SRAM cell located under each pixel, and charges from the SRAM cell drive the movement of the mirrors. Color is added to the image-creation process either through a spinning color wheel (used with a single-chip projector) or a three-chip (red, green, blue) projector. The color wheel is placed between the lamp light source and the DMD chip such that the light passing through is colored and then reflected off a mirror to determine the level of darkness. A color wheel consists of a red, green, and blue sector, as well as a fourth sector to either control brightness or include a fourth color. This spinning color wheel in the single-chip arrangement can be replaced by red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes (LED). The three-chip projector uses a prism to split up the light into three beams (red, green, blue), each directed towards its own DMD chip. The outputs of the three DMD chips are recombined and then projected.

    I've got an LED DLP. Love it. But you won't be finding DLP smaller than 50", and the LED ones (which are pretty much immune to the rainbow effect) will run you a little more, too.

    Jragghen on
  • RoundBoyRoundBoy Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    While that plasma on amazon's site is nice.. Notice : 1365 x 768 resolution

    This is the dirty secret of current plasmas. While they look VERY pretty, they are not HDTV resolutions.

    I don't know anything about rear-projection tv's... but hd res is hd res... but that thing is huge.


    I forgot to put this in my original post.. but avoid getting the cheapest set you can afford. Sony / Samsung / Sharp / Panasonic , etc stand behind the product (and have a better warrenty) then 'off' name brands.

    While that westinghouse or other brand may be much cheaper, and last for a very long time... have fun getting service on it. There was an article i read not that long ago saying to get service on one of these tvs required the original box to ship it back to the company. Or pay $150 for a new box plus the service charge. In many cases, it was almost cheaper just to buy a new tv.

    RoundBoy on
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  • ASimPersonASimPerson Cold... and hard.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    If you get a DLP, remember that while the initial cost is cheaper, the light bulb in it WILL burn out and you will have to shell out some serious dough (like, at least $100) to replace it.

    ASimPerson on
  • JragghenJragghen Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    ASimPerson wrote: »
    If you get a DLP, remember that while the initial cost is cheaper, the light bulb in it WILL burn out and you will have to shell out some serious dough (like, at least $100) to replace it.

    Unless you go the LED route. Or laser, but those aren't out yet.

    Jragghen on
  • ToniousTonious Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Thanks for all the input guys. And yeah, I want to avoid the whole lamp issue with projectors and DLPs. That's why I'm aiming for a Flat Panel plasma. And there are a lot of 50 inch plasmas from name brands like Samsung, Sony, Polaroid, etc... that seem pretty nice and within my price range of 1k-1.4k. And thanks for the idea on the Best Buy finance thing. I have nearly perfect credit so it might be cheaper to go that way than to go through my credit card.

    Tonious on
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Realize that plasmas kick out alot of heat. Be careful about their placement in small rooms.
    Also, as with any TV, you need to play with the picture settings when you bring it home to make it work for you.

    Improvolone on
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