), especially since I saw it at Fry's in a darkened room.
Posted on 02/15/2010 9:18:24 AM PST by RayChuang88
1. Consider the Warranty:
The supposed AVERAGE life on an LCD screen is 5 years.
When the LCD screen goes bad, they are very difficult to fix. Outside the manufacturer's warranty (usually 1 year), you are looking at repairing or, worse yet, replacing the set out of pocket.
We bought an HD TV home theater system on special at Best Buy just before Thanksgiving. The package was all Sony (52” LCD + 120 watt home theater (w/ Blu-Ray) + a second Blu-Ray DVD player) for $1900. (There was also a parallel deal but with a Play Station 3 instead of the second Blu-Ray. But my kids are grown and I want nothing that might tempt them to come back for an extended stay.)
Bought the “no excuses, in-home servicing, three service calls and we replace it” extended warranty from Best Buy. Cost about $300 to get coverage through November 2013. With Sony quality, it might ultimately be a waste of money. But I'm watching the television for the next 4 years without worrying what to do (or how much it will cost me) if a problem develops.
In five years, it will be 3D HD (which will require buying new everything); then onto “smell-o-vision,” I guess.
2. Get a 1080P television with the highest cycle rate (120 or 240 hertz)
1080P is high definition picture resolution rate (as opposed to 720P which is standard definition). To me, watching 720P now makes me feel like I need a new prescription for my glasses. You've seen the difference in the showrooms. The higher hertz rate means the screen “refreshes” more quickly. This is important when watching fast paced sports or CGI-heavy action features in HD.
3. Upgrade Your DVD Player
Get a Blu-Ray DVD player along with your HD TV. (Hopefully in a package deal like the one I got. The 52” LCD television regular price essentially covered the cost of the home theater and 2nd Blu-Ray player.) Yes, Blu-Ray movies are $5.00 to $10.00 more expensive per movie in the stores. Instead, buy them on Amazon or from another on-line retailer at very reasonable prices. The difference in picture quality (especially the CGI heavy/animated features) is tremendous. In addition, for the basic $10.00 monthly subscription fee (3 movies at once), you can have access to literally thousands of Blu-Ray movies through Netflix.
BTW, all of your present DVDs can be played in a Blu-Ray DVD player as well. (That's a general statement; there are probably some oddball DVDs that won't. I have nearly 200 regular DVDs from major studios; so far, they all play fine.)
4. Upgrade Your Cable Box to HD.
I was paying for a cable package that included HD channels I could not access because I did not have an HD television AND an HD cable box. After the television was delivered and set up, I exchanged the box at the local office but still ended up having a technician come to the house when I couldn't get sound with the picture. Turned out to be a signal source selection issue (D’oh!). The HD box costs me an additional $3.00/month.
5. Afternoon light on the LCD screen.
Can't help you much here. From your description, we have a family room setup somewhat similar to yours; but our television wall is at 90 degrees to the big sliding doors. Haven't had any problem with sun glare so far but it is winter now and the sun's angle above the horizon changes going into summer.
Good luck!
I am trying to figure out the difference between LCD and the light screens
Boy you bought it when they were expensive.
I would agree. If you have that type of lighting a plasma might not work well in that room.
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.
), especially since I saw it at Fry's in a darkened room.
1) I would consider an extended warranty, but the high price of these extended warranties are in many ways a ripoff.
2) The two models I'm now considering--Samsung LN40B650 and Sony KDL-40EX500--are both 40" 1080p panels with optional 120 Hz refresh rates. I will not settle for anything less.
3) Getting a Blu-ray player will probably be a few months down the road. I already have a Panasonic DVD-S35 DVD player with progressive scan output and will use that as a stop-gap measure until I get enough funds to switch over to a Blu-ray player (any suggestions for a reasonably-price model nowadays?).
4) I DEFINITELY will upgrade my cable box to HD! But it won't be the box provided by Comcast--it will be a TiVo DVR with a Comcast-provided mCard CableCARD so I can at least get the above-Channel 30 digital cable channels.
5) Alas, I look at the current TV in the early afternoon and with the shades closed, the brightness is fairly strong. That--alas--may rule out considering getting a Panasonic plasma panel anyway.
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.
I am interested in VIZIO's new M420NV or M420VT LED-backlit models but since they're not arriving until late March of this year, I'm still leaning towards the Samsung LN40B650 or Sony KDL-40EX500.
We have been very happy with Vizio... have three of them now.
Samsung is iffy quality, if you ask me. Some things are worth waiting for. Go to the store and compare the picture quality.
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.
If you're that concerned then I'm assuming you've exchanged all the incandescent light bulbs in your house for flourescents, converted your house to solar energy and are driving a "green" car..........and have limited your kids shower times to 5 minutes.
If not, then go with the plasma if you can afford it. You won't regret it.......
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