Buying a new TV.

[Kytele]

My sister bought a 42" Vizio at costco just so that when a better comes around for the price she paid for she can return it for the full amount.

Costco returns almost anything. And the TV is great imo.

[scrockstar]

Also, remember: HDMI only works if your computer has HDMI out if you where planning on using it as a monitor.

You can get a DVI (or VGA for that matter) to HDMI cable from monoprice.com for under $10, and it works great.

[Tyche]

When I got my 46's, they looked small in the store. Got them home and they are hueg lik xbox. As far as brand, idk. My friend's mom bought a high end bravia, and I got an aquos. I just really like my color more. Maybe something like this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 9512581364

Just make sure to read legit reviews before you buy.

[Darus Grey]

"people who speak of burn-in are incredibly out-dated in their advice." Anything using a phosphor coating can burn, it's just more tolerant lately.

The scenario you'd need to experience permanent burn-in requires keeping a still image on for literally hundreds of continuous hours. Plasmas have software that will frequently discolor/remap portions of the screen that have been displayed for large amount of times to significantly extend the window of damage.

Modern plasmas are more tolerant of burn-in than CRTs are... so if you were comfortable gaming on a CRT TV/monitor, then there is no reason to avoid Plasma over this fear.

So yes, people who worry over burn-in for anything but early generation plasmas, are giving out-dated advice.


For actual advice I'd consider at least looking at Sony SXRD rear-projection units. Sony recently discontinued the A3000 series as they're getting out of the RP market, and you can find some amazing deals on 50-60inch TVs for $800-$1500, about half what you'd pay for a similar LCD/Plasma. You could buy one , put away the saved money, and by the time you were ready to upgrade again could get another TV of similar size better than one you'd buy for your maximum budget, allowing you to extend your value across two generations instead of one.

It's actually pretty good advice to always buy one generation behind the curve for most electronics. The price/power ratio is significantly better.

[Slott]

My plasma has bad burn in at the moment, samsung 48 inch. I'd say go with LCD or an industrial type plasma (ones that are more resiliant to burn in or made to hold the same pixels for long periods of time) I got it only a year ago.

Had I known, i would have gone lcd -.-

[Tyche]

Don't they have DVDs you can play to erase burn in (pure white screen i think?) Also you should factor where you'll be playing. My living room TV is near a huge bay window that light just bleeds through. LCD will look better in this environment (although some plasmas have this new coating shit that helps a bit), whereas in rooms with little ambient light, Plasma will look amazing.

[Penthesilea]

I got a job at Best Buy (ugh) after spending about 2 months looking for one related to my major. Now I'm working at Merck and Best Buy though I'm not sure I'll be at best buy much longer.

You work for 1 month before you can get your discount, and my discount is the same as the guys who's been there 2 years.

For all intents and purposes, gaming is fine on either TV, but if you want some of the best PQ, plasma is the way to go. Just be warned, even though I've got a plasma I do regret putting it in the room with the big 8' windows shining on the screen. Plasmas and Samsungs 120hz TVs will give you glare, whereas the XBR series wont.

[Talus]

I second Vanns. They're based in Montana?? I ordered a 40" Samsung LCD a year ago and had it delivered as a secondary TV for my house. I had to go meet the delivery truck (it was YELLOW, but their color is orange.. w/e) behind a shopping center since they couldn't stop outside on the curb - they couldn't get the truck down my street, or were worried about turning around, etc. Thumbs up for Vanns though!

[Apelila]

Also, remember: HDMI only works if your computer has HDMI out if you where planning on using it as a monitor.

You can get a DVI (or VGA for that matter) to HDMI cable from monoprice.com for under $10, and it works great.

This is true, but in order to use your TV as a monitor you'll want to make sure your video card can work with HDTV's. Not all video cards support DVI-D, as HDMI doesn't support analog outputs (DVI-A). Edit: And it is a gi-freaking-gantic pain in the ass finding out if your old cad will work or not beyond hooking it up and seeing if it will work.

[Lauzian]

I work for Vann's and posted a topic about this not long ago. I don't care to do a search right now. Pioneer Elites are the best Plasma's we carry. One problem, Pioneer is dropping out of the T.V. business, we went from 140 in stock to 3 in about a week. Pioneer is selling all their screens to Panasonic.

As far as LCD's go, I bought the Samsung 4081f and it is amazing. It doesn't have the 120 Hz, my friend bought the 71f (with the 120 Hz), and I can't honestly tell the difference. You can tell the difference in black levels between our tvs though. The 81 has a contrast ratio of 500,000:1 while the 71 has 25,000:1. If you decide to go Samsung, their new line just came out 2 weeks ago. The 650 is the new 71. I have yet to see the new version of the 81 yet. The 650 has a contrast ratio of 50,000:1, doubling its previous ratio. If you've got the money to burn, I would recommend 81 first and then 650.

Edit: Cared enough to search now: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29541&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

[Norelco]

52 inch Sony Bravia XBR5 will run you between 3.7k and 4k. Amazing TV.

[Xanthe]

I just bought a Samsung 52" 7 Series from Circuit City for $2999 yesterday, picking it up tomorrow (Happy Birthday to me, indeed). I had previously been looking at the Sony Bravia W series since XBR costs so much more, but the series was discontinued. While the Samsung 7 series does cost a bit more, it's a more feature-rich middle ground for much less than the XBR as far as costs go. The 52" is also the perfect size for my viewing distance of ~10'. It's 120Hz, 1080p, DLNA certified, 4 HDMI ports (only matters if you're not using a reciever), VGA input, and a whole load of other stuff. It looks very classy to boot. AVS forums have plenty of good things to say about it as well. It was just released this week, so you know it's the latest in features. It's also a good time to buy from anywhere that has a price guarantee, since there are several holiday sales coming up with Mother's Day, Memorial Day, graduations, Father's Day, and 4th of July (I got a 60-day guarantee). Swapping for an HD box from Time Warner today and I already purchased an Onkyo 705 reciever, Klipsch Quintet SL speakers and Klipsch Synergy Sub-12, so now all I need is a PS3 60GB or wait for the MGS4 bundle next month and my setup is finished. :D

[Zragnarok]

As far as LCD's go, I bought the Samsung 4081f and it is amazing. It doesn't have the 120 Hz, my friend bought the 71f (with the 120 Hz), and I can't honestly tell the difference. You can tell the difference in black levels between our tvs though.

You will see the difference in a fast motion picture. Just watch a hockey game, when the camera is changing angle very fast, your image will be distorted a bit. Plasma doesn't have this problem. You also have to ask yourself what you'll do with your TV ? Yes, you're a gamer, but do you watch a lot of movies ? Are you watching sports ? Anyway, to me, I don't have to ask myself all those questions because to me, Plasma > LCD. The only reason I would buy a LCD is if my TV would be a computer monitor 24h/24, 7/7... If you chose LCD, I would look at the Sharp Aquos as they have the 120htz technology and from all the sellers I went to to check TVs, they were the one with the best quality in LCD. The 120 htz techonlogy btw help the fact that your image is distorted in fast motion picture. The display for Plasma is instant so like I said, you don't have this problem.

There's also the resolution of your TV. You want a 720p ? a 1080i ? Or you want a full HD with 1080p ? If you plan to look at some BlueRay DVD or play PS3, go for the 1080p resolution. The 1080p resolution means a resolution of 1920 x 1080 so if you connect your PC to it, the image will be a lot better than a 720p where the resolution is 1366 x 768. The bigger your TV is, the bigger you'll see the difference.

As for me, I bought the Samsung T5084, a plasma full HDTV (1080p). I'm very happy with this TV but i'm not playing much video game on it yet. You have to be aware that when your plasma TV is new, the chance to burn your pixels is higher, so be careful. Right now, if I let my TV on a still picture for like 5 min and then I turn my screen to white ( it's an option the TV got ), you can see the picture but it's fading very fast and comes back to normal. Just take care of it and you'll be all right.

Also, here's the website I used to chose which TV I would buy. In the end, I was torn between the Panasonic and the Samsung one but I chose the Sumsung for all those options you got for anti-burning and the fact you can display 2 pictures at the same time on your screen ( you can watch TV on half your screen a play a video game on the other half )

http://reviews.cnet.com/?tag=hd_ts

Happy hunting!

[melbufrauma]

plasma if ur just watching movies, but like you said for gamer, go LCD

[octopus]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... sma+gaming

A recent thread about LCD vs Plasma for gaming in AVSForum

[Zragnarok]

plasma if ur just watching movies, watching TV, sports, playing game with fast motion picture, etc. but like you said for gamer, go Plasma

Fixed. Your response looks like the one I got from all the god damn sellers I saw. Ahhh, you play video game, you'll burn your screen, buy a LCD! I read I don't know how much reviews on the internet, I shopped my TV for countless of hours and you have to know that a lot of sellers doesn't give a shit what they are selling you. If they get a better commission for selling a Panasonic, they will try to sell you a Panasonic no matter what you think. Same with LCD and Plasma.

I know there's some good side for a LCD, but to me, Plasma win in every situation.

If you don't believe me, go read this. You'll see that the only advantage LCD got is for PC use ( and the bad side they say is burn in for Plasma, which can be avoided if you're careful ) and the fact that the image quality is better at high altitude ( are you planning to bring your TV on a plane trip ? Do you live at the top of Mount Everest ? ). There's other advantage like power consuption but it doesn't help you have a better image quality.

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plas ... s-lcd.html

[Robert]

I bought a 32" Sharp Aquos (1080p) from NewEgg for $800 on sale with free shipping, use it as a TV and a monitor, very pleased..they have a new model thats' 27000:1 contrast (idk what that means either) that goes up to 55" for 3.7k @1080p but LCD at that size :/

[octopus]

( and the bad side they say is burn in for Plasma, which can be avoided if you're careful

I'd go even further and say it can be avoided if you don't act like a complete idiot and put a static image on the screen for a week or something.

[Tyche]

plasma if ur just watching movies, watching TV, sports, playing game with fast motion picture, etc. but like you said for gamer, go Plasma

Fixed. Your response looks like the one I got from all the god damn sellers I saw. Ahhh, you play video game, you'll burn your screen, buy a LCD! I read I don't know how much reviews on the internet, I shopped my TV for countless of hours and you have to know that a lot of sellers doesn't give a shit what they are selling you. If they get a better commission for selling a Panasonic, they will try to sell you a Panasonic no matter what you think. Same with LCD and Plasma.

I know there's some good side for a LCD, but to me, Plasma win in every situation.

If you don't believe me, go read this. You'll see that the only advantage LCD got is for PC use ( and the bad side they say is burn in for Plasma, which can be avoided if you're careful ) and the fact that the image quality is better at high altitude ( are you planning to bring your TV on a plane trip ? Do you live at the top of Mount Everest ? ). There's other advantage like power consuption but it doesn't help you have a better image quality.

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plas ... s-lcd.html

That's the kind of review that will lead you astray. Best bet is AVSforums for reviews. Every Plasma TV is different, some have really bad reflection, some don't, some have huge IR issues, some not so much. It's not a general question that can be easily answered with saying PLASMA > LCD or LCD > Plasma. Depends on the manufacturer and your setup/use. When I bought mine, I looked at value (apparently not an issue with OP) in relation to size and reviewed quality. I shopped around for about 6 months and the perfect TV (Sharp Aquos LCD LC46D64U) came out on Black Friday for $1200 (retailed for over $2000 at the time of purchase). I needed an LCD because of huge amounts of ambient light. If I put an HDTV in my upstairs bedroom, I'd undoubtedly go Plasma. It's important that the bad rep that has laced PLasma's be dispelled, but they aren't inherently greater than LCDs for any application.

[Lauzian]

As far as LCD's go, I bought the Samsung 4081f and it is amazing. It doesn't have the 120 Hz, my friend bought the 71f (with the 120 Hz), and I can't honestly tell the difference. You can tell the difference in black levels between our tvs though.

You will see the difference in a fast motion picture. Just watch a hockey game, when the camera is changing angle very fast, your image will be distorted a bit. Plasma doesn't have this problem. You also have to ask yourself what you'll do with your TV ? Yes, you're a gamer, but do you watch a lot of movies ? Are you watching sports ? Anyway, to me, I don't have to ask myself all those questions because to me, Plasma > LCD. The only reason I would buy a LCD is if my TV would be a computer monitor 24h/24, 7/7... If you chose LCD, I would look at the Sharp Aquos as they have the 120htz technology and from all the sellers I went to to check TVs, they were the one with the best quality in LCD. The 120 htz techonlogy btw help the fact that your image is distorted in fast motion picture. The display for Plasma is instant so like I said, you don't have this problem.

I've watched it all and 120 Hz is more hype than anything. My T.V. sits right next to the 71 on the floor, LED Motion Plus vs. 120 Hz, no difference. IMO, especially on High Def movies, turn the 120 off, it adds extra frames which almost seem to remove special effects. We call it PBS Special T.V. because it makes it look like it was shot on a personal camera.