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  • Salanis

    Jan. 1, 2010 2:33 p.m. Salanis UberDork

    So, I've decided it's time for an HDTV. I'm tired of trying to read video game text on the crappy old tv that I got for free several years ago (although it's been well worth the price).

    I figure this is the perfect time to find a good deal in after-holiday sales or Craigslist from people who now have extra unwanted TVs. I'm thinking 37"-42" for $400-$500.

    Any experience (good or bad) with particular brands? In particular, I'm scoping a number of Vizios (although also a promising Toshiba). Thoughts on Plasma vs. LCD? People talk about burn-in on Plasma, but I get the impression that's not much concern anymore.

    This will be doing lots of XBox 360 and DVDs. No Blu-Ray yet. Might also have it serve as a big computer monitor on occasion too.

    Thanks in advance.

  • Keith

    Jan. 1, 2010 4:18 p.m. Keith PowerDork

    I think the weeks running up to the Superbowl are prime "new TV" season. Try the week after the game, I've heard there are lot of returns.

  • Toyman01

    Jan. 1, 2010 5:12 p.m. Toyman01 Dork

    I've got a Vizio 42" LCD and love it. Bought a little over a year ago so I paid more than you will be. Get the 1080P, though I have heard rumors higher def in on the way.

  • Salanis

    Jan. 1, 2010 5:27 p.m. Salanis UberDork

    Toyman01 wrote:

    Get the 1080P, though I have heard rumors higher def in on the way.

    I've heard reviews that, under 50", the difference between 720p and 1080p is essentially indiscernible.

    Anyone have experience with recent gen Plasmas?

  • neon4891

    Jan. 1, 2010 5:30 p.m. neon4891 UberDork

    1440p and LED are the next big things.

    I just picked up a 32" Panasonic LCD 720p for $330 after tax on my employee discount. It is teamed up with a new up-converter DVD player and an HDMI Cable. It makes a really nice combo that is miles ahead of my old TV/DVD. In all I will have under $400 in my set up, and that includes swaping my PS2 over to the 5-cord AV cable.

    Not much usefull to add, but deals are out there, you just have too look around

  • pigeon

    Jan. 1, 2010 6:35 p.m. pigeon HalfDork

    Keep an eye out at slickdeals.net, fatwallet.com and techbargains.com for good deals. For reviews look at AVSforum.com - prepare to spend a lot of time there. I'd go LCD vs. plasma - I have a 50" 720p Samsung plasma that I'm very happy with but it throws off a LOT of heat. I don't think in the size you're looking at 1080 is a big deal. The plus of plasma is likely to be noticeably cheaper vs LCD, but operating costs will likely be higher.

    Once you get a TV, adjust the picture settings down from the full bright "torch" mode that looks so appealing in the store, let it burn in for a couple weeks and then spend some time tweaking the picture using something like Digital Video Essentials. There's no real documentation in the box with DVE but several good guides on the net available to really get the best out of your investment.

  • Drewsifer

    Jan. 1, 2010 6:51 p.m. Drewsifer Reader

    I was just about to ask this question. I've been cruising the web looking for a new tv. I really like Samsung, but I've found some Mitsu ones that are like 60" for around the same price. Good idea, bad idea?

  • Claff

    Jan. 1, 2010 7:01 p.m. Claff New Reader

    For the last three years we've had a Sony 40" LCD and been pretty happy with it. That TV is going in the bedroom and we've just picked up its replacement for the family room. Almost right off the bat we really liked the picture of the Samsungs and after a month of looking further we stuck with that. We now have a Samsung 55" LED LCD. The difference between the Sony and this are amazing, so much better that I'm starting to wonder if I ever had the Sony's settings right in the first place.

  • stuart in mn

    Jan. 1, 2010 7:14 p.m. stuart in mn SuperDork

    I have a Samsung I like pretty well. In the size range you're talking about I don't think the plasma vs. LED issue is a big deal - virtually all plasmas are bigger than that these days so LED is pretty much your only choice.

  • 93celicaGT2

    Jan. 1, 2010 7:19 p.m. 93celicaGT2 SuperDork

    Salanis wrote:

    Toyman01 wrote:

    Get the 1080P, though I have heard rumors higher def in on the way.

    I've heard reviews that, under 50", the difference between 720p and 1080p is essentially indiscernible.

    Anyone have experience with recent gen Plasmas?

    I have a Panasonic Viera 42" 720P plasma, and it looks better than almost any 1080P LCD i've EVER seen. The colors are better, it's smoother looking, and the blacks are amazing.

    Burn in is not a problem. I also picked it up within your budget. $400 off of Craigslist, i couldn't even tell that it had been used. Heat is not an issue with this unit, and it doesn't seem to be too thirsty in terms of operating costs. I haven't noticed and increase in my bill, and this is compared to the bill when there was no tv at all prior.

    But you're right. In most cases, below 50", you will not see a difference between 720 and 1080.

  • dyintorace

    Jan. 1, 2010 8:25 p.m. dyintorace Dork

    We have a 40" Samsung that is LCD, 1080p and 120mhz. The picture with HD through Cox cable is really stunning. I bought it in 2008 just after Thanksgiving from Circuit City and got a smoking deal on it.

  • dyintorace

    Jan. 1, 2010 8:26 p.m. dyintorace Dork

    pigeon wrote:

    Once you get a TV, adjust the picture settings down from the full bright "torch" mode that looks so appealing in the store, let it burn in for a couple weeks and then spend some time tweaking the picture using something like Digital Video Essentials. There's no real documentation in the box with DVE but several good guides on the net available to really get the best out of your investment.

    Would you expand a little on "Digital Video Essentials"? I am not familiar with it, but am interested in knowing more. It would be nice to be sure that our TV is optimized.

  • pigeon

    Jan. 1, 2010 9:13 p.m. pigeon HalfDork

    dyintorace wrote:

    pigeon wrote:

    Once you get a TV, adjust the picture settings down from the full bright "torch" mode that looks so appealing in the store, let it burn in for a couple weeks and then spend some time tweaking the picture using something like Digital Video Essentials. There's no real documentation in the box with DVE but several good guides on the net available to really get the best out of your investment.

    Would you expand a little on "Digital Video Essentials"? I am not familiar with it, but am interested in knowing more. It would be nice to be sure that our TV is optimized.

    Digital Video Essentials is a DVD with a pretty complete set of test patterns and color films. You can google up a few different guides to using it. Set aside an hour or so to make adjustments, sometimes you have to go back to the same setting several times because they can be interrelated. When you're done you'll have a much better picture. Worth the $25 and the time.

  • griffin729

    Jan. 2, 2010 1:20 a.m. griffin729 Reader

    One of my roommates up until recently worked for a year at the local Sears in their home electronics department. His opinions are that Samsung and Panasonic are pretty much the current best brands on the market. Vizio is cheap and the third largest seller of TVs out there right now, however their quality control is spotty at times. Some of their stuff is really good and some is really bad. He also concurs that until you get up into the 50" range and are watching Blu-Ray you probaly won't notice the difference in resolutions. Remember, everything that is broadcast now is only in 720p.

    The fiance just bought me for Christmas a 32" Panasonic Viera X1 in 720p. The step up from standard def to this for Forza 3 was stunning. The reason for this is that in 3 weeks we're closing on a house, and her rule is no Xbox in the living room. So, I get the bigger high def in my room. I've said it here before, and I'll say it again. My fiance is awesome.

  • Keith

    Jan. 2, 2010 1:53 a.m. Keith PowerDork

    One thing I'm gonna throw out there - if what you're watching is any good, you won't notice the TV. You'll get sucked into the story instead. If you're still analyzing the picture after more than 15 minutes of watching, turn off the TV

  • 1slowcrx

    Jan. 2, 2010 2:18 a.m. 1slowcrx Reader

    I have a 32" Visio that I got off slickdeals about 1.5 years ago for $399 shipped.

    It looks great and I've had no problems with it,

  • Salanis

    Jan. 2, 2010 3:07 a.m. Salanis UberDork

    Well, I got myself a 3-week old Samsung 42" Plasma TV. Discovered it's almost too big for the space in the apartment (we'll probably shift furniture around some).

    Boy is it a difference though! The girlfriend and I were laughing at all the little details you couldn't see on a crappy old TV. We could make out individual facial hairs in Gears of War, and now the in-car view for Forza 3 is awesome!

  • Jack

    Jan. 2, 2010 9:11 a.m. Jack SuperDork

    Netflix has the Video Essentials disk.

    Jack

  • There are those who call me...Ross.

    Jan. 2, 2010 1:49 p.m. There are those who call me...Ross. HalfDork

    I get some channels that are 1080i on cable; my TV tells me so. So that argument of "they only broadcast at 720p" isnt really valid anymore. The human eye has a "natural resolution", if you will, and the talk about 1080p is only useful over 50" or so, is mostly correct but no one ever comments on how close you normally view the TV. (Extreme example: 72" 1080p at 200' will not look as good as a 32" 720p at 6'.) www.CNet.com has some good write-ups for trying to decide between what you want and what you need (if you can call it "need").

    The one thing I always try to tell people is DO NOT buy some uber expensive HDMI cable. The signal is digital and buying the 4' $80 MonsterCable will not give you any difference compared to the $8 20' "el cheapo" brand from www.newegg.com or the like.

    Get what strikes you as looking good. Thats all the really matters; that and dont spend too much!

  • pigeon

    Jan. 2, 2010 2:30 p.m. pigeon HalfDork

    There are those who call me...Ross. wrote:

    The one thing I always try to tell people is DO NOT buy some uber expensive HDMI cable. The signal is digital and buying the 4' $80 MonsterCable will not give you any difference compared to the $8 20' "el cheapo" brand from www.newegg.com or the like.

    Get what strikes you as looking good. Thats all the really matters; that and dont spend too much!

    monoprice.com for you HDMI and similar cabling needs. Great prices, great service. No affiliation, just a many times satisfied customer.

  • Josh

    Jan. 2, 2010 2:36 p.m. Josh Dork

    Actually, HDMI cables do experience signal degredation at longer lengths, the signal itself is digital but you will see more dropouts, artifacts, etc. with a 20' long cable (of any brand). Some of the more expensive ones will function better at longer lengths than the cheapos, some will not, but if you stay under 3m or so just about any cable will do just fine.

    The Dayton cables I got from partsexpress.com seem to be very well constructed for the price ($5-9 for most lengths).

    Edit: Monoprice is great too, although I have been a bit disappointed in the quality of some of the "too cheap to be true" items I've bought from them ($1 ipod cables and the like). If I was going to buy a bunch of cables from them I would go for their midrange products, not the bottom of the barrel. They're all a tiny fraction of what you'd pay locally.

  • Strizzo

    Jan. 2, 2010 5:28 p.m. Strizzo SuperDork

    Firefold.com is one I've used before, they'll get any cable you want, just have to ask.

  • cwh

    Jan. 2, 2010 5:36 p.m. cwh SuperDork

    Wifeys son bought us a 32" Sylvania HDTV for Christmas, replacing a 27" crt. Just got it hooked up tonight. Ya, it's incredible. I know it's not the latest greatest humongo, but DAYUM, is the picture great. Only problem is all the additional channels available means the remote batteries will surely die quickly. She was busy cooking ropa vieja, but as soon as she saw it, I lost the remote. So, I'm on here for a while. Did get to see a few minutes of WRC. Cool.

  • dyintorace

    Jan. 2, 2010 6:18 p.m. dyintorace Dork

    pigeon wrote:

    Digital Video Essentials is a DVD with a pretty complete set of test patterns and color films. You can google up a few different guides to using it. Set aside an hour or so to make adjustments, sometimes you have to go back to the same setting several times because they can be interrelated. When you're done you'll have a much better picture. Worth the $25 and the time.

    Thanks! I've never heard of it but will definitely try it out. Especially since Netflix offers it. :)

  • Jan. 13, 2010 3:39 p.m. petegossett SuperDork

    OK, I could really use your guys help with this one...

    I don't watch tv. My wife has decided it's time to replace her old one, since she keeps having to smack the side of it to get the sound back on. She's saying 42", I don't care, it's her money. It will be in the bedroom(we really don't have a living room...we have teenagers), and mainly just broadcast cable stuff, with the occasional DVD, usually watched with the lights on and/or blinds open.

    From what I'm seeing, LCD is better for her, and for brands look for either Samsung or Panasonic??? FWIW, we'll probably just go to Best Buy and pick one up, rather than dealing with ordering online.

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