HD TV Question

[redandwhite]

My friend works at Best Buy and can get me a solid deal on a TV, something I've needed for years now and am thinking about splurging on knowing that this window of opportunity will close unless I take advantage of it now.

 

Looking tonight, I picked out two TV's that I absolutely loved.

 

Toshiba

 

Sony

 

The Toshiba is currently on sale for $799.99 marked down from $999.99; He can get it down to $599.99.

 

The Sony is currently on sale for $1299.99 marked down from $1499.99; He can get it down to $999.99.

 

At first glance, I'm thinking "man, you can't beat that Toshiba, it's only $600 bucks!" but then I take a double take and realize "man, that Sony is much bigger and I'm getting a third of the price knocked off from the original price. You can't beat that Sony!"

 

What do you do, I ask. What do you do?

[Rowand44]

My friend works at Best Buy and can get me a solid deal on a TV, something I've needed for years now and am thinking about splurging on knowing that this window of opportunity will close unless I take advantage of it now.

 

Looking tonight, I picked out two TV's that I absolutely loved.

 

Toshiba

 

Sony

 

The Toshiba is currently on sale for $799.99 marked down from $999.99; He can get it down to $599.99.

 

The Sony is currently on sale for $1299.99 marked down from $1499.99; He can get it down to $999.99.

 

At first glance, I'm thinking "man, you can't beat that Toshiba, it's only $600 bucks!" but then I take a double take and realize "man, that Sony is much bigger and I'm getting a third of the price knocked off from the original price. You can't beat that Sony!"

 

What do you do, I ask. What do you do?

Buy yourself one and buy me one. Problem solved?

Edited February 21, 2007 by Rowand44

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Feb 21, 2007 -> 01:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Buy yourself one and buy me one. Problem solved?

 

I can give you my old tv?

 

 

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 21, 2007 -> 01:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Buy the better one.

 

Well, that's kind of my question. Sure, the Sony is higher in price, but it's also thicker, takes up more space, and is so high in price simply because its 14 inches bigger than the Toshiba.

 

The Toshiba on the other hand can be placed on a wall in the future, is more sleek, more thin, less expensive, etc.

[3E8]

My friend works at Best Buy and can get me a solid deal on a TV, something I've needed for years now and am thinking about splurging on knowing that this window of opportunity will close unless I take advantage of it now.

 

Looking tonight, I picked out two TV's that I absolutely loved.

 

Toshiba

 

Sony

 

The Toshiba is currently on sale for $799.99 marked down from $999.99; He can get it down to $599.99.

 

The Sony is currently on sale for $1299.99 marked down from $1499.99; He can get it down to $999.99.

 

At first glance, I'm thinking "man, you can't beat that Toshiba, it's only $600 bucks!" but then I take a double take and realize "man, that Sony is much bigger and I'm getting a third of the price knocked off from the original price. You can't beat that Sony!"

 

What do you do, I ask. What do you do?

 

Definitely don't go with the first one. That's a horrible price, even with your buddy's discount. It's only an LCD monitor. I see no HD tuner included. Here is a 32" LCD with HDTV tuner for $100 less:

 

32" MAG

 

$1k for the 46" LCD HDTV is pretty good. Do you need a TV this big? For a viewing distance of 12' or less, 42" is sufficient. I prefer plasma to LCD though, and if you watch a lot of sports then plasma is the better choice. Finding a decent 42" plasma under $1000 is not difficult. Actually see what your friend can offer you in that department.

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 21, 2007 -> 01:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.polaroid.com/global/detail.jsp?...;bmLocale=en_US

 

I got this TV about 8 months ago, for just under 700 bucks, and love it.

 

That looks like an awesome tv, however polaroid only supplies to Circtuit City. Darn.

 

Thanks, T!

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(3E8 @ Feb 21, 2007 -> 01:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Definitely don't go with the first one. That's a horrible price, even with your buddy's discount. It's only an LCD monitor. I see no HD tuner included. Here is a 32" LCD with HDTV tuner for $100 less:

 

32" MAG

 

$1k for the 46" LCD HDTV is pretty good. Do you need a TV this big? For a viewing distance of 12' or less, 42" is sufficient. I prefer plasma to LCD though, and if you watch a lot of sports then plasma is the better choice. Finding a decent 42" plasma under $1000 is not difficult. Actually see what your friend can offer you in that department.

 

It's funny you say that because the first time I went to Best Buy, the guy was telling me that I should avoid the row I found the Toshiba in because without the tuner, that TV would be a dead technology. Then tonight the guy was trying to sell me on how it's such a great deal and how cable boxes are always going to be around and that I shouldn't worry about tuner's whatsoever.

 

That TV looks good, but MAG? Somebody else on my floor bought Westinghouse and has had troubles on it within the first couple months. MAG, Westinghouse, etc. were brands I was told to avoid like the plague.

 

Also, the Sony is rather large. As mentioned earlier, I'm completely content with 32 inches, infact I'd probably prefer it given that I'd be saving money on size alone. As far as LCD to Plasma goes, I couldn't find a decent Plasma TV that would fit my price range.

 

Hmm... This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Thanks 3E8!

 

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 21, 2007 -> 01:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just get something that works for you. With the TV I linked, I wanted something in that size range since the room it was going in was small, however something that was HD ready. The TV has worked out great, but I took a little bit of a risk with a lesser known TV manufacture.

 

I guess I would just say really look hard before making a significant purchase like a 600+ TV.

 

Edit: thinking aloud.

 

Definitly something I'm not going to rush into..

 

Edited February 21, 2007 by redandwhite

[GoodAsGould]

Definitely don't go with the first one. That's a horrible price, even with your buddy's discount. It's only an LCD monitor. I see no HD tuner included. Here is a 32" LCD with HDTV tuner for $100 less:

 

32" MAG

 

$1k for the 46" LCD HDTV is pretty good. Do you need a TV this big? For a viewing distance of 12' or less, 42" is sufficient. I prefer plasma to LCD though, and if you watch a lot of sports then plasma is the better choice. Finding a decent 42" plasma under $1000 is not difficult. Actually see what your friend can offer you in that department.

 

Ugh, stay away from Plasma at all costs. Plus Im making an assumption here but I think Red & White likes to play video games atleast sport ones and thats a big no on plasma anyways.

[redandwhite]

I'm going to check and see what kind of price I can get this one for today:

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1134702498404

 

Thoughts?

 

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Feb 21, 2007 -> 04:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ugh, stay away from Plasma at all costs. Plus Im making an assumption here but I think Red & White likes to play video games atleast sport ones and thats a big no on plasma anyways.

Yea, I really wasn't thinking plasma, mainly because they are out of my price range and if games don't go well with it, then it's just another reason why I'm avoiding them. Thanks.

[SoxFan562004]

Someone made the point earlier, make sure the TV isn't too big for the space you're going to use it. I've had friends get really nice TVs, but they are way too big for their tiny apartments. They would have been much better off getting a TV that fits their space.

[3E8]

Ugh, stay away from Plasma at all costs. Plus Im making an assumption here but I think Red & White likes to play video games atleast sport ones and thats a big no on plasma anyways.

Can you please provide reasons why staying away from plasma TVs is a good idea?

[HuskyCaucasian]

Looking tonight, I picked out two TV's that I absolutely loved.

 

Toshiba

 

Sony

 

Absolutely go with the Sony. It's bigger, has more HDMI inputs (this is key for the future), it has an HDTV tuner built in (th eother you need an external box), and it's a Sony. THey dont make cheap crap.

[Jenksismyhero]

I'd go with neither.

 

The best tv's on the market are made by Samsung. If you're willing to drop 13-1400, and not opposed to Wal-Mart, you can get a Samsung 42inch plasma from SamsClub. We just bought the 27inch LCD for the bedroom for $700. Excellent picture quality, very bright, and it has two hdmi inputs. The plasma would be even better.

 

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate....&pCatg=6150

 

If you can spend $1800 they have a 50in plasma too.

 

Obviously this is different from your Best Buy hookup, but ask about their Samsungs. Also remember that they jack up all the settings in the store to make them look as bright as possible (while keeping all of the lights off in the TV area). If you're looking at rear-projection they have great picture quality but you need a dark room and you need seating that's directly in front of the tv. If you trust your Best Buy buddy though i'm sure he's told you all of this.

[RockRaines]

My friend works at Best Buy and can get me a solid deal on a TV, something I've needed for years now and am thinking about splurging on knowing that this window of opportunity will close unless I take advantage of it now.

 

Looking tonight, I picked out two TV's that I absolutely loved.

 

Toshiba

 

Sony

 

The Toshiba is currently on sale for $799.99 marked down from $999.99; He can get it down to $599.99.

 

The Sony is currently on sale for $1299.99 marked down from $1499.99; He can get it down to $999.99.

 

At first glance, I'm thinking "man, you can't beat that Toshiba, it's only $600 bucks!" but then I take a double take and realize "man, that Sony is much bigger and I'm getting a third of the price knocked off from the original price. You can't beat that Sony!"

 

What do you do, I ask. What do you do?

When it comes to TV's you kinda get what you pay for. In this case if you are going to take the plunge and spend money on something you will probably use more than any other possession you have, I would go with the greatest value. I have always like Sony TV's as well, people seem to really stay loyal to Sony as well.

 

Now with respect to those two TV's you have two different technologies in play. You have the toshiba LCD monitor and the LCD project Sony TV. There is going to be a difference between the two tv's in picture quality, and features. The LCD will give you a little better blacks, but the Sony projection may actual give you a faster picture IMO. The thing you need to decide is that are you going to wall mount this tv, is it in a dark or extremely light room, is size more important to you?

 

If I was buying a TV for a living room of a house that would sit me about 8-15 feet away from the screen, I would go with the Sony, if its a small dorm or something of the sort, the LCD should suit you just fine.

 

Can you please provide reasons why staying away from plasma TVs is a good idea?

Besides the burn in, and dying pixels?

[Jenksismyhero]

Besides the burn in, and dying pixels?

 

 

Actually I don't think this is a problem anymore. It was when plasmas first came out, but the technology has changed and the problem can be reversed. And really, who leaves their tv on pause for 24 hours (no one, because anyone who can pause a tv has a dvr that has a screen saver that automatically kicks in)?

 

Here's a study that was done a little while ago about burn-in. The short summary is they left a video game paused for 48 hours and found that there was burn-in. But then they played a movie over and over again for 24 hours and it was gone.

 

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/i...20-%20FINAL.pdf

 

But again, no one will leave their stuff on that long anyway. If you need to pause your game and leave for the weekend just remember to turn the tv off.

 

And dying pixels can happen on any tv.

 

Also, the myth about tv lifetime cracks me up too (if you had worried about this). Unless you plan on keeping your plasma for 10 years, it will last you just fine. If you're my dad who still has a tv from 1975, then yeah, you'd prolly expect it to. But in the next decade there will be bigger and better tv's and plasma technology of today will be like 3 comb filter technology of a decade ago. They practically hand those tv's out now and they'll do the same with plasmas in a decade.

Edited February 21, 2007 by Jenksismybitch

[3E8]

Besides the burn in, and dying pixels?

Burn-in is not an issue these days with the slightest bit of caution (i.e. don't pause your DVD/video game and leave it for a half hour). Plasmas now move the on-screen image to force pixels to transfer colors and reduce the chance for burn-in. You cannot see this movement with the naked eye. Also plasmas come equipped with anti burn-in programs you can run to recalibrate phosphors and further protect your TV. And it is wise to not maximize the plasma contrast for the first hundred or so hours of viewing, because this is the time when phosphors are most likely to burn.

 

For the better contrast, viewing angle, fast motion viewing, and price at larger sizes, plasmas are well worth the small amount of extra care they require to prevent burn-in.

[RockRaines]

Burn-in is not an issue these days with the slightest bit of caution (i.e. don't pause your DVD/video game and leave it for a half hour). Plasmas now move the on-screen image to force pixels to transfer colors and reduce the chance for burn-in. You cannot see this movement with the naked eye. Also plasmas come equipped with anti burn-in programs you can run to recalibrate phosphors and further protect your TV. And it is wise to not maximize the plasma contrast for the first hundred or so hours of viewing, because this is the time when phosphors are most likely to burn.

 

For the better contrast, viewing angle, fast motion viewing, and price at larger sizes, plasmas are well worth the small amount of extra care they require to prevent burn-in.

These are exactly the reasons that LCD's are making a larger push towards sizes and contrasts. People dont want to have to take extra care. People can pass out late at night and have the dvd menu on the screen for 12 hours, then your tv is possibly ruined or has to be fixed? No thanks. I dont want that extra headache.

[IlliniKrush]

The one logo that always seems to leave a temp mark on my plasma is the stupid espn logo in the bottom right hand corner. I think this has to do with the sharp contrast in colors on it - white logo on a bright red background. You'd think ESPN would change the stupid color of that thing. And yeah, i turned down the settings on my tv so it's not 100% brightness and stuff. Temporary burn-ins do seem to correct themselves shortly afterwards.

[Balta1701]

There are quite a few websites out there which offer advice on exactly what the differences are between particular models and varieties of HDTv's, including comparisons between sizes, varieties, etc. One I've found useful is HDguru.com

[3E8]

That's why DVD players go to a screensaver which floats some logo around the screen if you leave them. Temporary burn-ins are called ghosting, and are normal. You can run your TV's burn-in program if you have it or just get a snow image on your screen to eliminate it.

Edited February 21, 2007 by 3E8

[Controlled Chaos]

Someone made the point earlier, make sure the TV isn't too big for the space you're going to use it. I've had friends get really nice TVs, but they are way too big for their tiny apartments. They would have been much better off getting a TV that fits their space.

A TV that's too big?? no such thing!!

[Palehosefan]

I've been dying for an HDTV and I have been researching the heck out of them for the past few months. Here's a few sites that might help you out.

 

http://www.ibuydigital.com/ might be cheaper on certain TV's, especially bigger ones

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6531_7-6509125.html?tag=dir for grades on certain TV's

[Rex Hudler]

Ugh, stay away from Plasma at all costs. Plus Im making an assumption here but I think Red & White likes to play video games atleast sport ones and thats a big no on plasma anyways.

 

Why stay away from plasmas? What makes them not good for sport video games?

 

Unless you can convince me otherwise, my guess is you are listening to the wrong people.

[Rex Hudler]

I have two plasmas and have slight "burn-in" from watching shows in 4:3 and not stretching them. Catch is, the ONLY time I see it is when the screen is blank (cable box turned off/TV still on). I have never seen any evidence of it when ANY program, movie or game is on the screen. I inherited these plasmas, so I did not have them from the beginning. But I do know that burn-in just isn't the issue it used to be and it can be basically avoided completely with proper procedures in the first 100 viewing hours.

 

I don't think there is a clear-cut choice between plasmas and LCD's. But the myths of shorter life and burn-in are no longer real issues. If you are going to stay with a smaller TV, go with an LCD. At 42" the choice gets a little cloudy.

 

Bottom line, do your research. Put any model # you look at into a search at pricegrabber.com. Check out bestbuyplasmas.com (not affiliated with Best Buy). Might be worth paying for shipping and saving the sales tax if the deal is right. In general, Panasonic TV's get good reviews but are slightly pricier. In looking for a new 26" LCD, I have liked Sharp, Phillips and Samsung TV's.

 

Costco sells Vizio TV's which are a good value, but not the quality of the other brands. Costco has a fairly high rate of return on them, but they sell a ton of them too.

[maggliopipe]

I recently bought a 56" Samsung DLP and I love the thing. While that style of HDTV may not be for everyone, I strongly recommend purchasing from amazon.com. I couldn't have been happier with my experience. Their price beat Best Buy's by $330, plus free shipping with 'white glove' delivery and no sales tax. I had the thing in my living room 1 week after placing the order just in time for the Superbowl, and they even disposed of the box and all the packaging for me. Don't hesitate to buy from them just because it's a big ticket item from something other than a brick-and-mortar store.

[GoodAsGould]

Why stay away from plasmas? What makes them not good for sport video games?

 

Unless you can convince me otherwise, my guess is you are listening to the wrong people.

 

Umm if by listening to the wrong people you mean, people who work with TV's everyday or seeing what happens to them myself from when a friend buys one......On my friends plasma the ESPN logo is burned in at the bottom right and images of video games he plays have burns ins on the screen too. The only game that I know of that will cause absolutely no burn in unless you play for an insane amount of time is Gears of War. Thats because in that game no image stays on the screen for long periods of time.

 

Anyways his tv got a lot of burn in from games and he played a lot but he never left the tv on when he wasnt there or fell asleep with it on. They have made improvements from when they first came out but.... burn in still happens and even though it fades some if you look for it you can still see it on the screen.

Edited February 27, 2007 by SoxFan101