What kind of HDTV do you have and what made you buy it?

I am going to buy a flat HDTV in the next month or so and am doing a little resarch by reaching out to opinions that I respect.
So what kind, what features, how big, refresh rate and all that jazz.

This will be a christmas present from me to me and my PS3, and my family
By the way it will be 40"+

Samsung 40" LCD.

I would now go for the LED, better black color and lower power consumption.

120 refresh rate works with movies, 60 is too slow. Your eyes cannot see any difference between 120 and 240 refresh rate.

I have a 46" Plasma Hitachi that is 4 years old hanging in the bed room. Never had a problem with it. In the living room I have a year old 42" Samsung LCD. Never a problem with it either. Your head will spin with refresh rates and such. Most of which you won't be able to tell the difference when you get home. Check out the reviews online and buy something with good reviews.

I've a Toshiba 46" LCD 1080p

I was going to get a Samsung, but a furniture store was going out of business and selling their Toshiba's at cost.

I ended up saving ~$300...

No complaints so far...

By the way, my dad has a 46" sony bravia and it has an awsome picture but it should for the price.

Vizio 40", snagged for $430 at Costco.

I have a DLP hdtv and it is disappointing because it is hard to see the picture during the day time.

If I replaced it, I'd get one of the LED LCD tvs.

1 y/o Samsung 42" LED/LCD flat screen from Best Buy.
Pros:
super thin
lightweight
internet ready (wired) streams Hulu, Netflix etc.
accepts external hard drives via usb

Cons:
Picture drastically changes when you sit to the side. Center is best.

Living on base in Okinawa our cable sucks so we stream a lot of shows or watch movies off of an external hard drive, this TV works great for that.

I have a 46" Sony Bravia...got it as a gift. The picture is quite nice, but the OTA tuner in it is broken, which I didn't discover until after the warranty expired, so I am stuck watching cable or satellite TV on it, which sucks because there are some local OTA channels I'd very much like to be able to watch.

50" Plasma from Sam's Club. About a year old and no problems thus far. The glossy screens are a bit tough to see during the day. If I were going to do it again I go bigger and make sure I got a matte screen.





Oh and I can't believe that I have the largest TV in this thread thus far.

I have a RCA and an LG.. The LG has much sexier menus !!

50" Panasonic Plasma TV.
Replaced a 50" Toshiba Plasma TV
Replaced a 50" Panasonic Plasma TV
Replaced a 42" DLP TV
Replaced 32" Flatscreen Sony CRT.

I would go plasma if I was you. They are all 600Hz tv's. ANY tv I go to, friends and what not I can see screen lag/ghosting. It is soo dang annoying. You also don't have to wait for 'response time' for plasma pixels. You will get the darkest darks w/plasma.

Just my experience.

I have a 40" Sony Bravia 3 yrs old no problems and a Sanyo 42" 1 yr old both LCD. The Sanyo has processor problems and will reset when overloaded once every week or two. But at a third of the cost of the Bravia at the time I think it's worth it.

Chap said:

internet ready (wired) streams Hulu, Netflix etc.
accepts external hard drives via usb

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These are both awesome extras. This summer we picked up a Blu Ray/Surround sound system that does this (but with wifi). I DL stuff and throw it on an external HD to watch, plus we subscribed to Netflix and watch tons of stuff on that. Plus it does Pandora which sounds great on the system. Since discovering that, SWMBO's MP3 player has been gathering dust.

I do media services for a college and we've settled on Samsung for our TV's as they seemed to have the best cost/quality ratio, though Panasonic ranks right up there as well.

Make sure you check the resolution. A lot of the cheaper TV's are labeled "HDTV" but they only go up to 720p on resolution. Anymore, there's no reason to settle for that.

keg2881 said:

50" Plasma from Sam's Club. About a year old and no problems thus far. The glossy screens are a bit tough to see during the day. If I were going to do it again I go bigger and make sure I got a matte screen.





Oh and I can't believe that I have the largest TV in this thread thus far.

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Gotcha by 2"!:rockin: I've got a Samsung 52"lcd, recently had an issue with it not wanting to turn on and stay on. Cost $250 to fix it. Better than buying a new one I guess but wasn't happy about it, it's only 3 years old. Otherwise it has a great picture, football and hockey look great on it. Speakers are just ok, use surround sound.

60" sony bravia nx8 led..... drink at costco made me buy it...lol

I have a 50" Panasonic plasma (2009 S model) which I calibrated using settings found on avsforum.com. It is AWESOME and I've had a bunch of compliments on the picture quality and black levels, including one friend with a 100" screen setup. I will say it (and plasma's in general) are best in a dark room without a lot of sunlight, and if your room has lots of light consider LCD (LED), or even better consider fixing the room for proper viewing. I have this and a 1080p 40" Toshiba LCD in the master BR, and while the Toshiba has a nice picture, there is no comparison while watching a movie or sports event (especially things with lots of motion) in a dark room.

My main tv is a 60" Mitsu DLP. I absolutely love it. Even during the brightest day, I have no trouble seeing it. I bought it after seeing my BIL's 80" model in his man cave. I don't have the need to hang my living room TV. I have an older 46" LCD that was replaced by the DLP hanging on the wall in the master bedroom. If I were in the market for a flat TV, I would probably go with LED.

I plan on turning the rec room portion of the finished basement in our new house into a pub in the future. I'm going to get a high end HD projector to get the biggest possible picture for soccer, hockey and movies.

As copyright1997 said, you must calibrate the tv. The factory settings are not optimal for viewing in your living room.

I just bought, last weekend, a 55" samsung (model is UN55D6000SFXZA if you're interested).

I've always had good luck with samsung products and I wasn't interested in the 3D gimmick that's currently flooding the TV market right now, and the price point was good on this tv.

I bought it from the Nebraska Furniture Mart here in Omaha and last week they had a promotion of 3 years no interest if you pay it off within three years... so it's like $70 a month, no biggie.

50" Bravia. Gift for our family last Xmas. The picture is excellent. Viewing angle is not an issue at least in our living room. Great picture. I love the built in streaming although some of the menus are better on the ps3. The USB input is awesome. I can put pictures or video on a flash drive and watch with the family. Nice feature. I know this one has a higher rrefresh rate than others I have watched but I really don't notice a difference.

mr_goodwrench said:

As copyright1997 said, you must calibrate the tv. The factory settings are not optimal for viewing in your living room.

Click to expand...

This is so important and yet so few people do it. Also, it doesn't require an extra $200-$300 as you can usually do a pretty good job just following recommendations on avsforum. It won't be as good as having a real pro doing an on-site calibration after proper burn in, but will (opinion here) be better than letting someone from a place like "worst buy" do it.

One other thing. You can tell next to nothing by how the TV looks in Sears, Best Buy, etc. Most places have florescent lights and have most of their TV's cranked up to "vivid" settings. This is one of the reasons that people tend to buy LCD's even though they are more expensive. (A couple of other reasons are potential glare, weight, and the fact you can't transport a plasma flat.) You won't (normally) be watching in this kind of environment. The TV I bought looked like Sh_t in Sears, but looked absolutely stunning at home in a darker room after burn in and calibration. I'm sure things have changed in terms of models since I bought, so just like brewing it pays to spend time in one of the specialized online forums with the experts.

I have a 60" samsung in my cookroom.
great picture, no problems.

I have a 53" hitachi plasma that is pushing 4 or 5 years old now. Was recommended by a friend of a friend who sets these things up for Warner Bros. If I was going to buy one today, I think the main thing would be the internet connectivity it has - make sure it streams netflix, hulu etc..

Plasma vs LED vs LCD?

panasonic 52" plasma

because circuit city was going out of business

46 inch Samsung LED. 1 month old. Best TV out there right now according to the people at Best Buy. The quality of the picture is very impressive.

I usually avoid financing but I couldn't pass up the 3 years no interest. I got a blue ray and HDMI cable with it for a total of about $1300 so I pay about 35 a month.

48" Vizio 1080p 120Hz LCD from Costco here. Had it for 2 years now with no problems. It's a huge upgrade from the 40" plasma 720 we used to have.

Consumer Reports is a good and trusted source to check out. Once you see what you like, price shopping for that particular model can pay off.

The replys are great everybody, keep 'em coming .
I think I am tossed up between a sony bravia and a samsung.
This is almost as bad as buying a car

I think all things being equal I would opt for LED over LCD or plasma. Not for quality reasons as I think they are all good. From what I understand, the LED versions are much lower power consumption. My Plasma TV is almost like a space heater when you are within a foot or two.

3 y/o Samsung 46" LCD. I love it.

My brother just bought the LED version of the same TV last year. Compared to mine, the picture is much better, but if you sit off center even a little bit, it looks like *&%#!
The angle problem isn't nearly as bad on mine. You can sit way off to the side and still have decent picture quality.

Choices, choices...

47" LG LED. I love it. found a good deal on it online, went and looked at the tv at a store to make sure i liked it. my brother and i both ended up with one.

A 32" insignia 720hd it was $350 the week after christmas last year best deal ever!

Sent from my iPad2 using HB Talk

I dont . . . cripes I'm sitting here watching the same TV I bought back in 1994

lschiavo said:

50" Bravia. Gift for our family last Xmas. The picture is excellent. Viewing angle is not an issue at least in our living room. Great picture. I love the built in streaming although some of the menus are better on the ps3. The USB input is awesome. I can put pictures or video on a flash drive and watch with the family. Nice feature. I know this one has a higher rrefresh rate than others I have watched but I really don't notice a difference.

Click to expand...

I had to measure...its 55. I can't say anything bad about the bravia. Flawless for nearly a year so far. Ours came with a "free" PS3.

59" Samsung plasma. 3D. Very cool. I love samsung glass. Audio on these tvs are fantastic too (I have it wired through my 7-speaker surround, but the tv still sound great without that.

This tv has a fairly competent media streamer. You can pull video from any DLNA appliance (PC, NAS). Supports many video/audio codecs. Oh yea, great pic too. Hard to touch the dark level on a plasma (LCDs fail here, even the LED backlights).

Many built in apps (netflix, pandora, hulu, many many more) means you can plug ethernet into the back of the tv and don't need a box. I think it has built-in wifi too, but my house is networked - no wireless here.

My thoughts on TV purchasing:

Search out deals on the internet for TVs. Don't let the displays fool you, the stores will put a cheaper TV next to more expensive one to convince you to buy the more expensive one. Usually you can take a quick look at the back and see why the picture quality it different, one will be on RCAs and the other will be on an HDMI.

The best time to buy is Black Friday and the week before the Super Bowl, that is when you will get your best deals.

If you budget allows, buy a LED back lit TV. It will have a much longer life and a higher contrast ratio.

Contrast Ratio Does matter, higher the better.

Refresh rate is a gimmick, your local movie theater runs at a refresh rate of 48hz or 72hz.
Your old tube ran at 96hz or lower.

Name brand TVs and Non-Name brand TVs share most of the same parts.
Nearly all new LCD panels (all brands) are made by Samsung in Korea.

Screen Resolution makes the biggest difference in picture quality, 1080P is the current standard. Blue-Ray is 1080P, Xbox360 is 720P, Wide Screen DVD is 480P, Standard DVD is 1080i, the first HD sets were 480i. Don't buy a 720P TV over $500.

Sound may be the biggest difference in most modern TV sets.

3D is very cool, but I would wait a few years for everything else to catch up before taking the plunge.

Plasma use them most energy, are susceptible to burn in, are very heavy (real glass), and have the best true to life colors.
LCD consume little energy and do not burn in, now you can choose your back light (LED or Florescent). LED is by far superior; it draws less power, has a long life, and is dimable (improves contrast ratio).

Vizio. cheap and made in california. I've had it for almost 2 years and I love it

Last TV I bought was a Samsung 46" 1080p LCD TV, 60hz. This was a few years back. I would never buy a TV in a Best Buy/ hhgregg, etc... horribly overpriced. Even Black Friday deals now aren't really deals.

Check out dealnews.com or slickdeals.net or any deal site for a good one. Compare the model to reviews on Amazon and other sites, and you are good to go. I still think 3D is a gimmick and not worth the money until it is standardized / glasses free, but whatever people care for.

I just bought a LED 32" Westinghouse for 259. Should be here this week so I'll follow up on picture. I know you wanted a 40"+ but I thought someone that is watching this thread could also gather info/opinions for a purchase.

My few cents is that if you're buying something under 40, don't get hung up on 720/1080p unless you're running blu-ray/PS3. Besides, at that small size, you won't notice a difference. From all that I've researched, TV stations (including HD channels) broadcast in 720p, so a 1080p TV (with no blu-ray/PS3) won't give you any benifits over a 720p.

Plasmas are for dark rooms with tiny or no windows. They're cheap, yes, because they're on their way out. Why waste money on a brand new TV that will automatically put you in the obsolete category?

Good luck!

MetallHed said:

Plasmas are for dark rooms with tiny or no windows. They're cheap, yes, because they're on their way out. Why waste money on a brand new TV that will automatically put you in the obsolete category?

Good luck!

Click to expand...

They are not cheap, and they are superior to LCDs in most categories. They do not suffer from burn-in any more than most other technologies (although they once did). They are not going away any time soon, but it's true that LCDs are much more popular (because they are cheap). Plasma's might very well go away at some point, despite their superiority.

I'm sure the misinformation here will pile up, and I'm not going to further stand in the way of it. But if you want to make an informed decision, please visit a good forum like www.avsforum.com and make your own educated decision.

I wouldn't trust any homebrewing advice in that forum, because duh it's a av forum