Help me pick out a HDTV 40" or smaller

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by 7960

I just bought this

Panasonic 42" plasma, TH-42PX60U. $1200 on sale when i bought it.
Panasonic - 42" Plasma HDTV - TH-42PX60U

It's on 3 or 4 lists of "best plasma tv" blah blah blah and two of my wife's co-workers have it and really like it.

I have the 37" version in the bedroom.

It's a great tv.

[motivez]

I had no idea plasma's were even that cheap, I thought they were all like 3k+ still (been awhile since I really looked into tv's)

Do you still have to be really really careful about what you watch on them? I remember hearing horror stories about someone falling asleep watching the news and having the little info line at the bottom burned into the screen on their brand new $3000 tv

[7960]

Originally Posted by motivez

How does the plasma compare to lcd's when it comes to darker colors, etc?

Flat TV People : LCD TVs versus Plasma Televisions

Brightness/Contrast

Plasma TVs report higher brightness and contrast levels than LCDs. Under ideal conditions (no ambient light) this is a true advantage of plasma technology, because LCD TVs are backlit and therefore light must be blocked to create blacks. Plasmas have individual pixels that either on or off, creating deeper blacks and better contrast.

LCD TVs can often look better in 'real-world' situations. Plasmas are made with a special glass surface that can reflect light, which dulls the brightness and contrast of the image. LCD TVs reflect very little light, allowing them to maintain levels in well-lit rooms.

Both LCD and plasma TVs will meet the brightness expectations of most consumers. However, in 'real world' situations with ambient light, LCD TVs will generally look a little brighter.

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by motivez

I had no idea plasma's were even that cheap, I thought they were all like 3k+ still (been awhile since I really looked into tv's)

Do you still have to be really really careful about what you watch on them? I remember hearing horror stories about someone falling asleep watching the news and having the little info line at the bottom burned into the screen on their brand new $3000 tv

Burn in isn't much of an issue anymore on the new generation of plasmas.

[Scrum]

Yeah I have always heard that in a room where you are going to have glare, LCD is better than plasma.

If you watch tv at night or glare is not a problem, plasma is usually better.

[7960]

Originally Posted by motivez

Do you still have to be really really careful about what you watch on them?

No.

I remember hearing horror stories about someone falling asleep watching the news and having the little info line at the bottom burned into the screen on their brand new $3000 tv

This isn't really an issue any more.

[Dumpy Dooby]

As far as LCDs go, I'd stick with Acer, Samsung, and LG. Sony has been proving themselves to be heading downhill with some shitty products and poor management as of late (i.e., laptop batteries, ps3 quantities, and Betamax 2 Blu-Ray). Samsung is the best on the market in terms of LCDs. They make Dell's LCDs, which get excellent ratings everywhere you look. Personally, I own a couple of Acers because they weren't that expensive, but I would have much rather have had some Dells. TV tuners are insignificant. It doesn't matter who makes that. Pay more attention to the LCD display itself. Personally, I'm not impressed with Sony recently, and I don't particularly have a desire to do business with them.

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by motivez

Well, they were showing this preview of some House episode, and there was a scene where it was dark, and he was peeking in a window.. I could hardly make out much detail, but other TV's right around there I could easily.. like the outline of his body, face, details of the window and the room, etc.

Could have easily been that TV, but on some other scenes it seemed much brighter and more vibrant than the other ones... so no idea what's up with the calibration

The two Sony definitely looked much better than anything else there for what I'm looking for

Definately sounds like a tuning issue.

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by Dumpy Dooby

As far as LCDs go, I'd stick with Acer, Samsung, and LG. Sony has been proving themselves to be heading downhill with some shitty products and poor management as of late (i.e., laptop batteries, ps3 quantities, and Betamax 2 Blu-Ray). Samsung is the best on the market in terms of LCDs. They make Dell's LCDs, which get excellent ratings everywhere you look. Personally, I own a couple of Acers because they weren't that expensive, but I would have much rather have had some Dells. TV tuners are insignificant. It doesn't matter who makes that. Pay more attention to the LCD display itself. Personally, I'm not impressed with Sony recently, and I don't particularly have a desire to do business with them.

Whoa whoa whoa....I agree sony has had some quality issues, but each profit center is different and their PC division has nothing to do with their television division. When it comes to LCD's I wouldn't go sony simply because I feel that Samsung and Panasonic both have better offerings, but I wouldn't touch LG or Acer over as Sony, not a chance.

[Dumpy Dooby]

Oh, found some good deals last night. I forgot to post 'em.

edit: here they are...

Compare Plasma, LCD and Flat Screen TVs - 40 - 45 in. - 1080p (HDTV)
^40-45in, 1080p, sorted by rating.

Compare Plasma, LCD and Flat Screen TVs
^No filters, all TVs.


Here's some of the better ones that I saw:
Compare Prices on Samsung LN-S4095D 40 in. HDTV LCD Television
Compare Prices on Samsung LN-S4096D 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD Television
Compare Prices on JVC LT-40FH96 40 in. HDTV LCD Television
Compare Prices on Sony BRAVIA™ KDL-40V2500 40 in. HDTV LCD Television
Compare Prices on Sony KDL-40XBR2 40 in. HDTV LCD Television

[motivez]

What makes the Samsung a better buy than the Sony in your mind?

[Dumpy Dooby]

Originally Posted by motivez

What makes the Samsung a better buy than the Sony in your mind?

They make better LCDs in general. It's like the same reason why Samsung phones have more features than, say, a Motorola of equal pricing. Motorola has to outsource the LCD itself, which costs them more money. That's also why Dell monitors are so expensive; again, Dell outsources their LCDs to Samsung. Samsung LCDs get excellent ratings everywhere. Even in the post above, it's a Samsung that has the highest rating.

I'm actually not much of a Samsung sackrider. I just really like their LCDs.

[motivez]

Hmm

I'll have to see it side by side, but the Sony I saw looked better than anything else on the floor

[Ardentfrost]

Samsung's smaller LCDs are good, but I still say the larger one's don't live up to Sony's Bravia series. 3 years ago I'd have sung a different tune about Sony, but that was b/c they were still making the best CRT televisions on the market. Since then they have picked up the pace and moved in on the LCD market.

Again, if you're going for a monitor, that's completely different. Samsung is at or near the top wrung in that market. But for TV's they don't, in my opinion, live up to other manufacturers. Sony and Panasonic make really good LCD's, and as much as I hate the company, Sharp doesn't make some bad LCD's either.

Of course, I don't know if I would buy an LCD at all... the technology sucks since it's backlit. If you have a very specified space to put it and only that type of size (flat and hung on the wall or close to the wall) will work, then I like LCD over Plasma, but for overall picture quality it's DLP all the way. Newer DLP rear projection technology can be 9" deep (which is about the same as hanging an LCD on the wall, closer if you use a candaliver arm on the LCD) and Brilliancolor (a new color correcting ASIC in modern units) fixes any problems older generations had with yellows. Plus Darkchip 3 gives DLP the best contrast ratio on the market, hands down.

[Dumpy Dooby]

Nerd!

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

Samsung's smaller LCDs are good, but I still say the larger one's don't live up to Sony's Bravia series. 3 years ago I'd have sung a different tune about Sony, but that was b/c they were still making the best CRT televisions on the market. Since then they have picked up the pace and moved in on the LCD market.

Again, if you're going for a monitor, that's completely different. Samsung is at or near the top wrung in that market. But for TV's they don't, in my opinion, live up to other manufacturers. Sony and Panasonic make really good LCD's, and as much as I hate the company, Sharp doesn't make some bad LCD's either.

Of course, I don't know if I would buy an LCD at all... the technology sucks since it's backlit. If you have a very specified space to put it and only that type of size (flat and hung on the wall or close to the wall) will work, then I like LCD over Plasma, but for overall picture quality it's DLP all the way. Newer DLP rear projection technology can be 9" deep (which is about the same as hanging an LCD on the wall, closer if you use a candaliver arm on the LCD) and Brilliancolor (a new color correcting ASIC in modern units) fixes any problems older generations had with yellows. Plus Darkchip 3 gives DLP the best contrast ratio on the market, hands down.

my sony CRT is ridiculously good, a couple folks have even asked if it was 720p HD the picture on DVD's is so good.

[Ardentfrost]

How big do you have? A friend of mine has one of their 36" HD CRT's and it weighs 200 lbs. Moving that thing into his house was NOT fun

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

How big do you have? A friend of mine has one of their 36" HD CRT's and it weighs 200 lbs. Moving that thing into his house was NOT fun

Mine weighs 168lbs the 36 is right around 200lbs...mine is a non hd though

[DosEquis]

I have a 34" widescreen panasonic that has been a good unit. Few buddies of mine have samsung DLP's. Cashishifts parents just bought a 42" samsung plasma 1080p... it looks reeaaal nice.

[motivez]

I think at this point I'll probably go with that 42" DLP from Samsung for $988.. not sure 2.5x the cost for LCD makes sense at this point unless someone can convince me otherwise, and if the dark issue I saw was just an issue with it being calibrated poorly then it'll probably work out nice

It's only 720p but from what people have said here I wont really see much of a difference