DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Buying a Big Screen HDTV?

Need some advice on how to do this the right way. I'm not getting it until June or July but figured I'd start the research process early because I want the best HDTV I can get for the price. Probably gonna have around $2K (give or take) to spend. And anything over 50". So what I need to research is...

-Best brand & model (with price in mind)
-Best picture quality (LCD or plasma?)
-Best sound
-Best place to buy (service and maybe install)

Basically, anyone want to share their experiences and their advice on what to get and why. Thanks!!

I got my HDTV a few months ago, before prices fell to such incredible prices, but i love my LG. For 2k, I would think you could find something easily. Prices have plummeted. I've used toshiba's at the hotel (37") and they are excellent, very easy to use and excellent picture.

Plasma has the best picture quality, though there will be some who would argue that.

If you want big, go DLP. Buy your HDMI cables online for 5 bucks. The $100 cables are a joke.

The economy is in the tank, we're all going to be living in the streets and you're buying a big screen TV?

Go outside and observe the world.

Great picture clarity.

Just My opinion ( Ihave 2 HD TV's)

Best Brands-- Sony, Panasonic, Samsung
value- (in order) Toshiba, Pioneer, LG, Viszio (I really like my LG DLP)
value- (types) LCD, DLP, Plasma


Best Picture quality -- Plasma is great quality but you have to take
into account is shelflife of life 10-15 years
LCD is the way Id go
DLP --- I loove my DLP and would take it over
plasma

Sound is a toss up, Sony Wega's and Aquious (sp?) are the only makes outside of Toshibas, that I know that really emphasize sound quality

Buy from a STORE!! its always easier to take care of warranty and service issues when you can actually speak gface to face with people

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If you want big, go DLP.

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myself, im not a fan of dlp. once you start to view it from a certain angle, the picture goes blurry, plus it takes up a lot of room.

At the time I bought mine, I got a 52" Mitsubishi DLP screen. I went DLP because at the time, it was superior to LCD.

These days I think that I'd definitely go LCD over anything else.
Names that you can't go wrong with are Samsung, Sharp, LG, Vizio, Mitsubishi (though I don't think they do a lot of LCD's) and of course Sony.

If I had to pick just one, I'd almost certainly choose Sharp or Samsung right now. I believe the Samsung 52" (Model LN52A650) is currently Consumer Reports' top rated LCD.

Beyond that, everything else is determined by compromises to make it fit your budget. Figure out what you can spend, then you can find the things that fit into that amount.

For shopping - I got mine at HHGregg, in their Outlet store. I saved a Metric Buttload that way, but of course it was a 'scratch & dent/floor model' item, so it wasn't pristine.

I have a Samsung 56" DLP and LOVE it! I would recommend it to anyone.

Will the TV be sitting in an area with lots of glare (ie near windows)? If so, while Plasma has a GREAT picture, it tends to reflect the light from your windows back at you. If not, then Plasma does have outstanding picture. I went with DLP, ultimately, because my TV was in an area that will reflect my big picture window. It was annoying with the CRT (cathode ray tube) TV and it would have had more reflection with the Plasma.

The best advice that I can give though, go to a Best Buy or HH Gregg (or wherever) and look at their TV's. They play the same video on all TV's (or nearly all), so you can get an apples to apples comparison of the picture with the same lighting around it (those ugly flourescent lights in the store). That is what cemented my decision in regards to size/style. I could have gone over 60" but those were just TOO damn big (after seeing them in person).

I'm certainly no expert on this stuff. I just liked what saw and got it. I did research the models online at places like epions where people that have purchased that particular model give their reviews as users of the product and at cnet for the high tech reviews. Those opinion sites helped me narrow my choice down from 6 to 3, then the visit to the store sealed the deal!

VIZIO

/thread

i have a 60" sony grand wega DLP LCD and a 52" Sony Bravia LCD...love both of them..sony really has a nice product when it comes to HD

I bought a Samsung 650 LCD from HH GREG....i bought it for $1490 when the price was $2299. Had a HUGE sale on it...and the guy gave me additional discount cuz i bought the stand and warrenty.


I'm loving every min of it....there is a 52'' on the same modle...however i would suggest you buy 750,850 or 950...i'm sure the 750 is within 2000 give or take couple of hundered by june...950 might be around 3000 and 850 somewhere in the middle...they are all pretty much the same TVs cept 950 i think that has LED backlight. Which is supposed to make the blacks even deeper....hell i can't tell the diff now i'm not sure how great it's going to make it look.

Also 750 and up modles have a little more gadgets to em...do some research online and u will see what i mean....

In short i vouch for the SAMSUNG series 6,7,8 and 9 is a little diff....

couple of other things...

I would say LCD>DLP>PLASMA
But that is just my opnion....i'm taking into consideration how long it's going to last and how much it costs to repair. LCD by far is the cheapest....and now a days bigger LCDs(50'' n up) are readily available. Of course a 50'' LCD will be way more expensive then DLP or Plasma...so u see where i'm goin with this.

If anything, you are helping the economy!

Plasma TV from Panasonic or Pioneer Kuro. Best plasma displays out there.

I've bought two from HH Gregg and have no complaints about their quality of service. They knocked a few hundred off the purchase price both times.

Lot's of good infor here, I'm waiting for my old tv to take a dump and plan on getting an HDTV, probally within the next year. And being the cheap skate I am, you would think the prices will go down even more.

For $2000 bucks you should be able to get a Sony 1080P LCD with a fast refresh rate. I would get the 52 incher myself.

$1699 at TigerDirect.com

Just make sure its what you want because they have a nice little restocking fee.

I have a 46" Sony XBR4 LCD.

Hands down the best picture I have ever seen on a TV.

Sony makes a great LCD.

whatever you decide, id go to hhgregg. and pay in cash, as in paper cash. they save a few bucks that way. this gives you an advantage in haggling down the price. you MUST talk him down in price. economy+cash+treating it like your buying something from a vendor in another county= 2-3 hundred bucks off. ive always gotten great deals at hhgregg this way. i couldnt get what i was hoping for once on a model i researched, came back the next day and got it with a different salesman.

There was a thread about HDTV's around the beginning of the year...I posted alot about my search on it. There was a lot of good info in that thread if it is still searchable.

In anycase....my search ended with a 50" Samsung Plasma. Ths PN50A650...which is their top tier plasma. At least it was untill they just recently released the 660....But I have yet to even see them in stores.

I was at first LCD driven. but I eventually turned after seeing things in person. I just felt I got a better picture...better colors out of the plasma....the LCD's were brighter and had no reflection....But I just liked the picture better on the plasmas.....and the plasmas were cheaper too. In the long run (10-15 years) the cost evens out as plasmas are about $40-$50 per year more expensive to run. Plasmas don't have the blurring issue that the 120 Hz LCDs correct. And if you have or are planning to have small children who like to put their fingers on everything...that glass plate that plasmas use is comforting.

But there is a reflection....there are anti reflection screens and such..but there is still some reflection. However...when I saw it...I determined that it was no more reflection than I saw in my CRT and I rarely, if ever, saw those reflections....

I went with HH Gregg. They did price matching and they will even price match the online shops as well....I got my Samsung for $1450 which was about 1K below retail...The only model I would have taken over this would have been the Panasonic 50PZ800U. Which is a GREAT TV, but they were not offering as good a deal on it. As far as plasmas are concerned...you cannot go wrong with the Samsungs and Panasonics.....Pioneers are absolutely Godlike...but so are their prices. As far as LCD's Samsung would be my first choice....Sony is similar to the Pioneers in Plasmas....great picture but large price as well...

I LOVE my Samsung and could not be happier...the picture is amazing and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking...

On my first plasma I bought I got the guy to knock a couple hundred off the price because I was buying it on Super Bowl Sunday at around 5:45 PM. They were actually doing the introductions and showing them on all the TVs in the store as I was working with the guy. I wound up getting like $200 more off the price that was already discounted for their Super Bowl sale, and I got their 12 months same as cash offer by opening a line of credit with them. Even better, when I sold that TV to my dad and bought a new one, they still gave me 12 months interest free on the new TV, even though I wasn't opening a new account with them (typically that deal was good only if you opened the account when you bought the TV).

Like I said, I've had nothing but good experiences with HH Gregg.

Oh yeah, like someone else said, don't pay more than maybe $5 or $10 for your HDMI cables.

Just did this with some inside help. Gotm TV an HDTV at Best Buy. Buy the extended warranty; often replace with new model (happened to 3 guys I know). Buy as high a contrast ratio as you can afford. Plasma gas light issues (reflects more), so if daylight is an issue, avoid that. One GREAT piece of advice is to measure where you sit from screen. It should be at least and about twice the screen's diagonal measurement. You may get grainy and "see" the refresh rate a bit, which happens when the screen is say 62 and you sit about 6 feet away. Mine is 42" and we are about perfect. When you pick a TV model or three, go look at the same TV and brand in about 3 stores if possible; they will all be different. Good Luck! Love mine. May need a different cable box set up, so check it out. Good luck!

I prefer LCD or DLP to plasma. You're generally going to pay less. Sony makes TVs that are LCOS. A friend of mine has one, and the pic is outstanding. The problem with plasma TVs, they get motion blur. Which is bad for sports. You don't get that with DLPs, and I am pretty sure you don't with LCDs as well.

Sound I can't help you with...... I use a surround sound set up and don't really use the speakers.

When I looked at TVs, I always liked the Samsung and Sony TVs the best. I own 2 Samsung DLP HDTVs currently, and they are priced a bit cheaper than the Sony. My in-laws also have 2 Samsungs, but theirs are both LCD and the love them. Great, bright pics. They previously owned a Mitsubishi, but had problems with it.

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One GREAT piece of advice is to measure where you sit from screen

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Good point. Someone posted a link in the last HD TV thread that was a great reference. If I remember right, it included a table that recommended how far to set back per the size of the screen.

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Plasma gas light issues (reflects more), so if daylight is an issue, avoid that.

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My set is in a well lit living room with two double set windows to the right approx. 5 and 15 ft. away respectively. While there is a bit of glare in the daytime, I have no issues with viewing. Any glare comes from the glass on the set.

As Bard recommended, comparing the same set in different stores (lighting) can be beneficial. Also, as he and others have touched upon do your best to realize your device / cable configuration. I have the Time-Warner HD DVR connected via composite cables directly to the TV, the home theater HDMI'd to the TV and a digital optical audio cable running from the DVR to the home theater (to provide sound from cable TV to the 5.1).

I went with composite for the cable TV signal since the customer service rep at Time-Warner gave me the cables for no extra charge and she said that their service techs said that there was no noticable quality difference between composite and HDMI relative to carrying the signal. This made sense to me because of the fact that TV stations cannot broadcast to 1080p. In addition, my set is only 720p.

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The problem with plasma TVs, they get motion blur. Which is bad for sports. You don't get that with DLPs, and I am pretty sure you don't with LCDs as well.

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Actually I believe that motion blur is more of a problem with LCDs which is why the refresh rate is important. I could be wrong.

About three years ago i did alot of research when shopping for my new tv's.

What i found out at that time was Sony and Pioneer were consider the best in plasma. After seeing these brands side by side it was a hard choice, but ended up buying Pioneer and have never been sorry for doing so.

I know the motion blur occurs on plasmas. Not positive on the LCDs. I know DLP TVs always use that as a selling point- no motion blur.

It would behoove everyone looking at TV's to look at a Vizio.

They're entry level priced but the quality rivals Sony and Samsung. I assure you on this.

i have a vizio, it's not as good as a samsung, but it's very nice. crisp picture

the only downside is the sound, the speakers on the tv are crap, although most people go with seperate speakers anyways

the built in warranty is beautiful too, you get i think 2 years with an option to buy a 3rd...

Here is my 2 cents....try to keep it short and sweet....I have a LCD and an older HDTV......the LCD is great, and it doubles as a monitor for my PC.....I recently had my HDTV fixed....there was a blue shadow behind everything....something to do with the color and Pixels being out of alignment...anyways, cost me $450 dollars and it's brand new...the TV is like 8 years old.....the repairman and I was talking about Plasma's and he was telling me that the life expectancy is like 3-5 years and they are done....might want to take a look at that...never researched that...just what a repairman told me.....IMO...if your into surfin the web and posting threads on dawgtalkers.com, then I would go with a LCD.....

I have an uncle, that has a tv like that.
He uses it, all the time! He watches it, for games and movies!

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He watches it, for games and movies!

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Nice, I never thought to use it for that!

In my opinion, Samsung and Sony are the best.
I own a 52" Samsung and my daughters room has a 32" Samsung. Mine is 1080 and hers is 720. They both look great. I do notice on the 720 I can see pixels every now and then, but with your 2k budget, I doubt you will go with a 720.

My dad has a Sony 1080. It's ok, but the screen has a ashy look to it. My 52" has an extra glass panel over it. Gives it that shiny clean look. Plasma look but LCD qualities. (Brightness, video games etc.)

I say go with a Samsung.

Yeah, I agree.

Like I said earlier, I spent a lot of time looking at different sets (this was several years back now). I had it narrowed to Sony and Samsung, and ended up with the Samsung.

Almost all my electronics are one of the above. I have 3 Samsung TVs, 2 of which are HD. I have a Samsung MP3/media player that I'm using as I type, a Samsung cell phone, then I have my Sony PS3 and A/V receiver. Though I'm not crazy about the receiver. I had one previously, but it kept shorting out. This one was somewhat cheaper, but it fit the price. (was going to go with a Denon, but it was almost $100 more).

There is a lot of good info in this thread and a lot of opinions.

Fact
1080p 120 MhZ is the best picture on the market. 1080p 120mhz is different then your standards 1080p TV,

I think Samsung is the best, Sony is overated and overpriced.

If you are looking for a deal I would buy it on ebay and get like a square trade warranty.

If you are going to buy a TV I recommend you do the research, because dropping $2k on a TV is an investment a good resource is Amazon they sell just about every TV you are looking for (for cheaper or around the same price) but people review and give honest feedback.