Suggestions for new T.V.

[bechyni]

Was thinking of getting a new t.v that is decent sized (42'+). Thought of looking of at a few 3D ones but idk if the whole hype over them is really worth the price tag that goes along with it. Looking to spend anywhere from 1000-2000 maybe a little more but not to much. Any suggestions?

[Tymon]

3d is a gimmick, you can get a great 42'' LED for under a thousand, easily.

Unfortunately that's all I can say. I don't know much about the differences between the brand, other than my totally biased and uninformed opinion that I would get a Sony if possible.

[bechyni]

Yeah I was looking at Sony unless someone offered up something that was better~

[Furtwangler]

Toshiba's are usually more competitively priced and I can speak personally of their durability.

[Bardicrune]

I recently purchased a 46" Sharp Aquos (Model: LC-46LE830U). Has built in 802.11N wireless and DLNA and Netflix support. I'm extremely happy with it. Personally don't think 3D in the home is worth it. Not enough content as of yet.

[Cephius]

I got a UN46C7000 Samsung 3D LED-LCD TV. In love with it. Got it from Tiger Direct for 1199 with free shipping. There's not much 3D content yet, but a lot of future 360 and PS3 titles are going to use it. I've played Black Ops in 3D and it's amazing.

[Isiolia]

While I'm not real sold on 3D either, basically everything past the low end models has it these days. The majority of what's used to drive 3D in a panel is a faster refresh rate, which can be useful for 2D as well.

As usual, research input lag on anything you're considering if you'll be gaming on it.

LED isn't a big deal over CCFL unless you go very high end for local dimming/per pixel dimming (since you aren't looking to spend close to $4k on a 40" TV, I'll assume not).

[Xanthe]

Going to hijack this thread since I've been put into the situation of needing a new TV. My formerly trusty Samsung LN52A750 was a late bloomer and developed the on-off-on-off cycle of death after 3.1 years of ownership this past weekend. Of course, the warranty ran out last month. Rather than consider repair costs for an "older" TV I'm looking into replacing it.

I started looking into LED-LCD TVs, but after reading up in Consumer Reports I'm thinking that plasma would be a good direction for me to go. The worries of image retention and burn-in are mostly a thing of the past now, sidelining the biggest argument against plasma in the past. Plasma TVs are also much cheaper than LED-LCD TVs of the relatively same size, not to mention their long-standing reputation for better image quality and blacks. Reports are also stating that plasma handles 3D content much better than LED-LCD, not that I care too much about that aspect as of now.

I've been looking specifically at a Samsung PN51D550. It's currently $949 plus tax and shipping from Amazon. Does anyone have any comments on this TV? I know there have been reports of a lot of glare in brightly-lit rooms, but my living room has blackout blinds so that is not an issue.

[bechyni]

I got a UN46C7000 Samsung 3D LED-LCD TV. In love with it. Got it from Tiger Direct for 1199 with free shipping. There's not much 3D content yet, but a lot of future 360 and PS3 titles are going to use it. I've played Black Ops in 3D and it's amazing.

Thanks! Actually just ordered this T.V. after looking into it and the price tag was just right.

[Cephius]

Thanks! Actually just ordered this T.V. after looking into it and the price tag was just right.

Cool, hope you like it. Make sure you tinker with the settings, mine were a bit off by default. I turned off Auto Motion Plus, it's the feature that gives programs the "soap opera" look. Great for fast-moving sports though.

[Omnipotent]

Just work for bestbuy and you can get a 55' Sony LCD-LED TV for 400$ like I did !

[bechyni]

What if you know someone who works at bestbuy!?

[Xanthe]

I think I'll stick with my current job. They gave me an $8500 grant for my house's down payment and closing.

[Omnipotent]

What if you know someone who works at bestbuy!?

Ask them to use their discount + accomodation for Sony and you can get a TV almost 75% off.

[Astarael]

Not sure if it's still the case, but when I was working in one of the larger british electronics stores I was told Samsung provide all the screens for Sony TV's, but in order to keep samsung televisions the step ahead they only provide sony with the previous generation samsung screens.

Either way, I was always a bigger fan of the samsung or sharp TV's.

[Isiolia]

Not sure if it's still the case, but when I was working in one of the larger british electronics stores I was told Samsung provide all the screens for Sony TV's, but in order to keep samsung televisions the step ahead they only provide sony with the previous generation samsung screens.

Either way, I was always a bigger fan of the samsung or sharp TV's.

I think it tends to be a bit more of a collaboration in those cases (Sony would pay for part of the factories, etc) - and in any case, Sony started investing in facilities/buying from Sharp several years ago, and more recently expanded to buying from other companies as well. The high end thing is kind of off, I think, given that Samsung's high end LCDs this year use local dimming backlights and Sony's use per-pixel dimming.