Let's talk plasma/lcd tv's whats best deals if you have one please share your opinion

[BOOSTEDGNs]

whats the best brand/deals going gonna start shopping and since I visit this site the most often would like to hear what you guys know/think are the best ones going not sure on a set price as of yet but looking for 50" of course the cheaper the price the more I get to dump in my gn but that another issue...
If you own one Id love to hear what your thoughts are and the model/brand you own and why you opted for it whether price or maybe that particular one had a good write up or whatever...........

thanks for your time
Alan

 

[Randy Greenoe]

A few of months ago I bought a "Funai" 46" plasma from Best Buy for $1388 on clearance. for the money I am very happy with it,but I think if I were to go to a 50" or larger I would probably go with a rear projection. I read somewhere that 50" and larger rear projection was the way to go.I am by no means an expert and just telling you what I have read. In my honest opinion and owning a plasma I think the LCD's are better.

 

[John Larkin]

I shopped and made my decision but have not bought yet. This seems to be the best deal out there: Toshiba DLP. The model I like due to size is 46HM84. There is a more common 46HM95 but I don't know the difference other than several hundred $ cheaper.

 

[RobsIron]

I have a 64" Projection Pioneer Elite with built in HID. It was $9k a few years ago. Its about $5500-6500 now. It has a Unreal Picture...Super Duper Clear. Its big but fits in my TV room great.(700sq.ft.)

If this one Craps out I'll definately go with a LCD. Just bought a 20" for one of my bedrooms. Its nice.

My buddy has had some problems with his plasma. I've heard they are good up to 5000 hours then problems. Don't know though..just what I heard.

 

[ttypewe4jim]

Let me ask you this do you ever game on the tv? If yes then dlp is NOT for you there are known lagg issues with the dlp style tv's and gaming and its VERY notticable so what are you goals and plans with the tv also what size room are you putting it in?

 

[turbopete]

My idea

I recently bought the Sony Grand Vega 50" rear projection for $2500.
Things I like:
Reasonable cost. (Sony sets the price so you don't have to deal with the markup)
I don't have to mount it on the wall.
HD capable. If you watch anything on HD, you will hate everything else!
Low reflective screen. If you have watched a TV where you can see the lamp or window reflections, you know what I mean.

Things to consider:
look at www.avsforum.com lots of discussion about what is best and what others have tried.
When you look at TV's consider the lighting in the store/room. Most stores will have low lighting to increase the "wow factor". The picture may be significantly different when watched in a bright room.

Oh, and things I dislike about it...none. Did the research, talked to the right people, and made the right choice.

 

[BobbyBuick]

http://www.syntaxgroups.com/ I GOT 2 OF EM AND LOVE EM 37=ABOUT 1500 AND 26 = ABOUT 600 LOOK FOR DEALS AT HH GREGG

 

[Blwn87]

Last X-mas (04) my family bought a 70" Sony Vega Rear Projection for $1800. Got a good price because most houses dont have door openings big enough to accomidate that big of a TV. No problems to date. For that size TV and price i consider it a steal.

 

[strikeeagle]

NOTHING touches the Sony SXRDs. It's an LCOS Rear Projection. PQ on these sets is STAGGERING. The 50" is $3.5K, the 60" is $4.5K. I'm talking at discount. (BTW, SXRD crushes DLP...)

Pany makes very good, very reasonably priced plasmas, a bit under $4K for a 50". No one will ever criticize you for purchasing a Pany plasma - always very highly rated, always viewed as an excellent value.

Hitachi makes a mass market 55" plasma for about $4.5K, and a high end 55" for about $6K. Nice prices for a large plasma display.

Um, I could go on and on and on...

If you want to get educated on the puts and takes of the several formats and the myriad sets available do yourself a favor and look into Sound and Vision Magazine. It's the bible, but very readable.

Good luck!

strike

 

[KevinB]

Let me ask you this do you ever game on the tv? If yes then dlp is NOT for you there are known lagg issues with the dlp style tv's and gaming and its VERY notticable so what are you goals and plans with the tv also what size room are you putting it in?

I play X-Box and PS2 on my Toshiba DLP using the HD cables. I have never ran into any lag issues. This is also with more hours than I would like to admit playing.

I have never heard of that before

 

[ttypewe4jim]

I play X-Box and PS2 on my Toshiba DLP using the HD cables. I have never ran into any lag issues. This is also with more hours than I would like to admit playing.

I have never heard of that before

It seems worse with some games then other but... I can try and see what info I can find in the morning one of the magazines actually wrote a article complaining about it.... I guess only certain people notice it but (as much as I would hate to admit) I'm a gaming freak so I notice everything

 

[Blown&Injected]

Was just looking and eBay was not the place to find a deal.

A google search proved to provide lots of information and deals on big TV's

 

[GNguy]

as of right now plasmas only last 5-7 years, DLP or LCD is the way to go as of right now. wait until they work out the problems in plasmas.

 

[savage6]

Well I will put forth my opinion since this is what I do. I am a sales rep for HHGREGG. I see all of these TV's daily. Plasma's now are mostly rated at ~60,000 hours(20.5 years@8hours a day) so the rumors of their short lifespan can probably be dispelled. Panasonic plasmas look good at best. I say this because we have the Hitachi 42 and 55hdt52(42 and 55 inch hitachi plasmas), sets sitting beside the 42 and th50px50u (42 and 50 inch panasonic plasmas). Either one will look great in home but the difference in picture quality on the hitachi compared to the panasonic is day and night and the hitachi has waaaaaaaaaaaay more features(firewire,PIP,indexing PIP,POWER swivel, etc.)for not a whole lot more 2799 for the pana. and 3199 for the 42 hitachi. Plus, the Hitachi is all black, and will match the GN very nicely.

But, on the other hand if you don't have to hang your TV on the wall and don't mind spending a little more, like strikeeagle said, the Sony SXRD is the way to go for picture quality. Trust me I have the 50 inch(KDSR50XBR1) myself. The picture quality is nothing less than awesome. Blows any plasma I have ever seen away. One thing I like about it is you can sit alot closer and still get a pristine picture because the sony LCOS(Liquid Crystal On Silocone) has no "screen door" effect, you know, the lines separating pixels you see when you get close to a normal screen. This may not be a problem now but when you get a larger screen this "screen door" will become much more apparent.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[XLR8]

Let me know if you have any more questions.

So for someone like me where TV isn't a priority but would like a HDTV in the 46" - 52# size, what is the best bang for the buck?
You know us TR owners are all cheap SOBs.

 

[GNSCOTT]

Here is what I am looking into getting. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5852408445&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1 My friend works at Best Buy and he told me it is a joke to compare picture quality by looking at 2 TV's side by side in a store. He said that they just take them out of the box and plug them in w/out adjusting anything. He showed me a web site that showed the best setting for certain TV's to get the best picture (can't find it now). He is trying to talk me into a Zenith 50" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with HDMI Input

Model: Z50PX2D

which is on sale at Best buy this week with a bunch of rebates, so I may do that one as well.

 

[savage6]

Well if you want a flat panel to hang on the wall, go with either the panasonic th50px50u(~$3799) or the hitachi 42hdt52(~$3199), yeah yyou give up a little size with the hitachi but like I said it's a better set.

If you go rear projection look at the sony LCD (KDFE50A10) at ~$2199. Looks good on high def, and does a really good job on non high def as well. If you dont care how non high def looks and want a great high def picture the JVC (HD52G886)~$2399 LCOS is great for high def viewing while the non HD broadcasts look OK at best.

But my pick for the best overall rear projection LCD is the Hitachi 50VG825 ~$2300. It's got alot of features plus a really cool look(all black).

I haven't mentioned DLP because they are IMO really over hyped and have not impressed me very much overall, unless you go to the mitsubishi WD52628 ~$3299 but they are still overpriced.Don't get me wrong they look very good but maybe worth $2500 at most.

Hope this helps.

 

[turbojitsu85]

I work with alot of AV equipment like Plasma TV's, LCD TV's and Projectors from DLP to LCD. Brand names like Barco/Folsom, Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Benq, Sanyo, and more so I know a little about this subject. Plasmas look nice but don't last long the Plasma inside dulls after so many years and alot quicker if it is on all the time like the AV companies. If your using it for a computer monitor as well don't use a screen saver as the image can burn into the screen. If you want something flat to mount to a wall I would go with flat panel LCD TV's of course they are very expensive. DLP's are nice and suppose to last very long but they havn't been out long enough to see if they last as long as the manufactures say they do, I don't really trust them because they use a million or so tiny mirrors that spin around to bounce light off the chip. In my opinion it's just to many moving parts especially if you move it around as much as I rearrange my living room. I like the LCD TV's the best relatively cheap for whats out there today and a proven technology. As far as brand name goes I like Sony. I have a 42" Grand Wega 3 LCD TV and a 24" Wega Trinitron. I'm probably going to get flamed for liking Sony but I believe you get what you pay for. I once dropped a 36" Sony Trinitron from 6 feet off a shelf at work and it did't break. The case was a little cracked but other that that it was fine. Of coures in the Trinitron TV's the glass is like 3" thick.

 

[joemama]

Just before football season we bought a 50 inch samsung DLP. I love this tv, especially the high def channels. You will watch stuff on the discovery channel you have no intrest in, but the picture is so nice with the high definition you can't change the channel. This tv was on sale at the time for I believe 2250. After the warranty it came out to a little more. Im sure ther are better tv's out there with the plasmas and the lcd's. I just could'nt see or afford spending 6-7 maybe 8 thousand dollars on a tv. 2250 was probably too much but what the he

 

[Spongebob]

NOTHING touches the Sony SXRDs. It's an LCOS Rear Projection. PQ on these sets is STAGGERING. The 50" is $3.5K, the 60" is $4.5K. I'm talking at discount. (BTW, SXRD crushes DLP...)


strike

I agree, but I'm biased...I work in the QA Design Engineering dept at the Sony plant that builds them!