Posted on 12/02/2011 4:36:08 PM PST by Chickensoup
I am now ready to buy my HDTV. I have been looking at the big Samsungs. Remember this is the first tv for a non tv home. We will mostly be watching CDs and downloads, not much broadcast...except for the Superbowl for my son (if I can figure out how to stream it on the net).
The big Samsungs often have 3D. Will the 3D affect the regular view? I am looking for a clear viewing set that will manage action
I keep reading that TV is changing and I wonder whether these TVs are old technology?
Can I actualy put an aerial on it?
Can these tvs live in a room that in the winter sometimes go down to 60's or even 50's? I would heat the room before I use it.
I have a BJs card and they sell them there. CNET also has them by price at their site.
One last question: is it better with respect to price, to buy now during the Christmas season or wait for the football season.
HDTV PING LIST PLEASE
SVGA -—> S-Video (as listed above)
Stay away from 3d. Go withe the standard HD. The only arguments are between plasma and lcd. Don’t buy any less than 120 MHZ
Picked up a Vizio 42 inch hdtv 2 years ago. Has run 8-10 hours per day since new with zero problems. Great picture, even when viewing from angles other than straight on, (unlike some other brands), good sound also. I live high up in the Mountains/boonies and use Dish Network with it. I am replacing another room’s TV shortly and I am buying this exact same model again simply because of the first one’s dependability, performance and competitive price.
thank you.
The problem with that is that you can find people who complain about anything. Better to go to a place like Amazon and the look at the ratings. You can then see the proportion of good to bad by the number of stars.
but I have heard similar tales from family members about Samsung products.
Hate to say never, but I’ve never had good results from a samsung product.I will avoid them whenever possible
Panasonic VIERA TC-P60ST30 60-Inch 1080p 600 Hz 3D Plasma HDTV
Agree 100% - any of the 3 models (ST, GT, or VT) are simply stunning with picture quality that simply outclasses LED models.
Ok this is going to sound silly but we are thinking of maybe or not getting a new TV. We both really do not care if we do our not so time and price are on our side....anyway if you really want to learn about the “problems” a TV can have type in a google search
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After 25 years without one, this is going to be the family treat and our time at the movies.
I have a couple of old XPs lying around?????
bttt
We have had a Sony Bravia 46” LCD for a couple years and love it. Yes, by all means an aerial and the right one pointed the right way will find many channels in this digital age.
We have a 55” HDTV Samsung LCD. I don’t know what to compare it to. We bought it at Sam’s Club online a year and a half ago. I can only tell you the picture is spectacular. People who have their own big screens come to watch ours during football season. We have a home theater system hooked up and watching DVDs is like being center stage. We use Time Warner cable but like you, we don’t do a lot of actual broadcast watching. I don’t think you can go wrong with just about anything nowadays. AND if you purchase at a place like Costco, you get a fantastic return policy and tech help. Our other tv which was replaced by this one was a Hitachi 42” plasma. I guess I’m not sophisticated enough for plasma. I have no clue about 3-D and will be interested in what advice people offer you on that. Good luck. You’re gonna love HDTV.
I got the Samsung 55” UN55D8000, and I love it. I researched for about a year before buying it. Thin, beautiful picture, lots of features, but the teeny bezel around the edge makes all other large screens look clunky...this looks like a plate of black glass on the wall...:)
I will say, though, that the only way to get a good, natural looking picture is to be sure to put the unit into “Game Mode”. If you leave “Game Mode” off, then you get what people call the “Soap Opera Effect”. For sporting events, animated features (such as Pixar material) and so on, I turn “Game Mode” OFF, it makes everything crystal clear and brilliant...it really pops.
But when I watch movies or television, I turn “Game Mode” ON.
Other than doing that, it is a great machine with so many features you can’t count them.
And by the way...don’t keep putting off a purchase waiting for the next technology. There will ALWAYS be “next” technology...:)
Second your recommendation of LED, but everyone needs to know that LED TVs are LCD TVs that use an LED source for the backlight instead of fluorescent as in older LCD screens.
The LED backlight provides backlight quicker (faster on) cooler, more even coverage, and is longer lasting than fluorescent, but it has nothing to do with the actual display.
Our old tube TV died two days after the Black Friday specials were gone.
So - we just bought our first HDTV - A 43” Samsung plasma.
$398 at Sams Club cyber week sale. It’s not the 3-D set.
This is it: http://tinyurl.com/7bvmerw
The picture is fantastic.
BUT - the front of the TV is highly reflective and acts like a mirror, reflecting everything and reflecting it well.
We even see reflections of people and objects 20 -25 feet away in another room. When the picture is dark, as in a movie night scene, the reflections overpower the picture. The only way to defeat the mirror effect is to totally darken the room (rooms) that reflect - turn off all the light and shut the blinds tight.
It’s driving us nuts!
As this is our first widescreen, HDTV TV we didn’t think to look for this characteristic in the showroom and no one mentioned it.
I don’t know if other brands or types of TV’s (LCD, LED)have this problem but it is something to take into account.
I could not disagree more strongly.
The new Panasonic plasmas I looked at still had the most outstanding picture, was still hundreds of dollars less than comparable performing LCD (and there still is not an LCD that can go as black as plasma) and was shocked to see just how much depth and weight had been trimmed from older versions of plasma.
When the salesman walked me up to the new Panasonics I said, "No....not LCD, I asked you to take me to the Panasonic Plasmas".
He was nice enough not to call me stupid.
Thank you very much.
PS: Our Samsung is so versatile. It has inputs galore. We can plug the computer in...and karaoke. The angles are terrific. Make sure you get the right size for the room.
3-D is fine. If you have a feature that is 3-D, the Samsung does it nicely, doesn’t hurt my eyes. It uses active technology (the glasses pair with the television, two pairs came with the set, and when I bought through Amazon, I got a kit with two more pairs and two or three 3-D movies for free.
Everyone I have invited over to watch 3-D was surprised at how good and enjoyable it was to watch, with no eyestrain. Two of the glasses use batteries, but the other two charge when you plug them in with USB cables that were included.
I purchased through Amazon, and the truck showed up when it was supposed to, the guys brought it in, but I had to set it up, which is okay because I wanted to anyway...:)
IIRC, the best time to buy a flat screen is the second week after Thanksgiving (lucky you).
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Well I planned to spend the week lookkng and then buying. I am so excited, I have a number of films I want to watch and I hate sitting in a theatre.
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