Large Screen TV Options - Dec 2009

[Ref]

I know there have been previous threads based on big screen TV’s and plasma vs. LCD, however that was then and things change.

As the title suggests, I am looking to purchase a big screen TV probably in the 50” plus range.

Aside from waiting in a long line-up on boxing day, is it worth it to wait until boxing week sales? Many of the vendors have the price guarantees in effect for 30 days – Will they honour them or are boxing week sales prices exempt?

My original plan was to get an LCD due to the brightness in my viewing room (windows all around). However many of the LCD’s seem to have light reflective screens these days (my laptop does and I hate it!).

Any tips per recent changes in TV technology I should be aware of?

Any deals out there aside from the big box stores?

Any other options/accessories I should try to score (blue ray, etc.)?

I have an older home theatre system (Yamaha) that works great, so I’ll probably keep it for now

TIA

 

[Nickelodeon]

Sharp, the industry leader, has low reflective screen. Indispensible for bright rooms.

Also max out the "regeneration speed"...minimum 120. Even with this, there is slight ghosting on high speed pucks shot down the ice.

 

[bryant]

I'm not a pro on the topic. But they say LCD lasts longer than Plasma....so if your set will be on several hours a day, that is definitely something to consider. I have purchased several big screens over the past few years for companies i worked with and found samsung to be the best with regards to picture quality and reliability. Sharp is good and a little cheaper and so is LG. Though I do know that some people have had issues with LG. I bought 2 from LG and they work fine.

 

[bryant]

If u can get accross the border they are a little bit cheaper over there, but I'm not sure what you have to pay upon reentering canada....or how much limit you are allowed. My friend just bought a panasonic large screen in the summer time in the states for about 300 cheaper than anywhere up here. he was in the states for a while though and with his family, so he had no troubles claiming it when he came back across. I'm not sure how it works if you just go there and back in one day.

 

[The Bandit]

I went shopping for one today, basically the same prices everywhere. Going to purchase a 42" LG at Costco(Heartland) for $778 (LG 42LF11). Selection varies by location. At least at Costco you get an extra years warranty at no extra cost.

 

[ladiesman007]

Sharp, the industry leader, has low reflective screen. Indispensible for bright rooms.

Also max out the "regeneration speed"...minimum 120. Even with this, there is slight ghosting on high speed pucks shot down the ice.

You should definitely look into low reflective screens, as Blue5658 suggested. I have a 52 inch Sony bravia LCD. It's a GREAT TV, however, when the room gets bright, I need to be sit directly in line with the TV to see properly, it appears much darker from other angles.

 

[Whosyodaddy]

The worst thing about boxing week pricing is that you need to know what the " street price" was before boxing week sales start. I would suggest that there is no point looking at the picture at ANY tv in ANY store.. Here's why..

I went looking for a 50 plus hi def with my kid, we looked at a bunch of TVs at Bestbuy, but kept coming back to this one TV. The picture looked sharper, better, crisper than any of the others. It was my kid who noticed it first.. It was the only TV in the viewing area that had a different picture than the rest on display., We called a salesman over and he said, " Oh, that;s because it's running a BlueRay source. And then he unplugged it .. The tv that had looked so hot now just looked like all the rest. In almost any but the high end high markup stores, they run 720p to all units, They have to. Put 1080p into a 720p unit.... no picture, Also, the display model has been set up by who?.. It was set up by the last jerk off ten year old who found the remote!!

Best strategy? Go online and look for independent reviews, pick three or four units that review well and see what they are going for now.. then, when they have the Boxing day sale prices, you will know what is real and what is bull.

Four years ago, my tv was going with an MSRP of 5K.. I got it a year ago for 2K and now it goes for 1499..

Also, a 4ms response time at 60hz is as crisp as an 8ms at 120 hz..

Read the reviews, pick the models, make the deal.. and above all, read the reviews that tell you how to set the colour controls..

INMHO.. best Hi def experience.. epson 1080 ub projector for 2k usd and a decent screen.. get a 110 inch mustang screen, be all in with taxes for 4k and look at it and go " holy shit"

Now, don't even ask what I think about Harmon Kardon.. lol

 

[Nickelodeon]

I went shopping for one today, basically the same prices everywhere. Going to purchase a 42" LG at Costco(Heartland) for $778 (LG 42LF11). Selection varies by location. At least at Costco you get an extra years warranty at no extra cost.

Good point on the warranty. If you do plan on getting an extended warranty Kromer Radio claims they have the cheapest; something like a couple of hundred dollars for 4 years.

 

[The Bandit]

I went shopping for one today, basically the same prices everywhere. Going to purchase a 42" LG at Costco(Heartland) for $778 (LG 42LF11). Selection varies by location. At least at Costco you get an extra years warranty at no extra cost.

They raised the price from yesterday. Picked up the Toshiba 40" for $699 instead.

 

[wildone99]

Tv

I know there have been previous threads based on big screen TV’s and plasma vs. LCD, however that was then and things change.

As the title suggests, I am looking to purchase a big screen TV probably in the 50” plus range.

Aside from waiting in a long line-up on boxing day, is it worth it to wait until boxing week sales? Many of the vendors have the price guarantees in effect for 30 days – Will they honour them or are boxing week sales prices exempt?

My original plan was to get an LCD due to the brightness in my viewing room (windows all around). However many of the LCD’s seem to have light reflective screens these days (my laptop does and I hate it!).

Any tips per recent changes in TV technology I should be aware of?

Any deals out there aside from the big box stores?

Any other options/accessories I should try to score (blue ray, etc.)?

I have an older home theatre system (Yamaha) that works great, so I’ll probably keep it for now

TIA

Iwould stick with the LCD the plasma generates some heat into your room also!

 

[kcal]

Best strategy? Go online and look for independent reviews, pick three or four units that review well and see what they are going for now.. then, when they have the Boxing day sale prices, you will know what is real and what is bull.

I agree that doing some research by reading the reviews online is a good way to find the best LCD TV for the budget. There's no substitute for what the experts are saying and you can compare the ratings between various brands as well.

 

[Sargeant StiffCock]

I would say just read up on the models that you are interested in and make sure there are no major manufacturing defects / recalls / common problems. The rest is all BS. When you have 20 TVs set up in the store it's easy to see the difference, bring any of them home and plug in a good source (like bluray or HD) and it looks great.

Agree with the projector being the best bang for your buck. About a year ago, I was shopping for a projector for my theater room in the basement. The more you dig in , the more BS they throw at you. Color calibration, color temperature, screen gain, blah blah blah. I bought the Panasonic PTAE3000 1080P projector ($3600 at the time) and set it up quickly in my family room on the painted wall and was AMAZED. So when I finished the room in the basement, I set up a piece of drywall 8 feet By about 5 feet (16:9) finished it nicely and just painted it with white ceiling paint. It sits about 6 inches off the wall, with the back wall painted black so it looks like it's floating in air. No professional calibration for the projector, no fancy $1200.00 screen. Every time I watch a bluray it still totally blows my mind. Now, could I see a difference with an expensive screen? Probably a little but only if I had the 2 set-up side by side.

I don't believe a word of any salesman tell me anyways. Most of them don't know what they're talking about and the ones that do, want to push the brands they have more margins with. Like the snobby SOBs down at Bay & Bloor Radio. I walk in there, with a t shirt and a pair of dirty work jeans. First of all they wouldn't give me the time of day when I asked about the projectors and when I finally got someone to show me he was pushing the Epson brand. I did not have experience with projectors but I had done my homework and knew the Panasonic was consistently getting the better reviews . They had the Epson running bluray and the Panasonic running HDTV. The Epson had the lamp brightness cranked up while the Panasonic was running in Eco. Mode.

Getting off topic here but anyways... projector is no good for a room with lots of windows but the moral of the story is... Know your needs (especially connectivity wise), do your homework and pay no attention to what the salesman tells you. You dont have to buy the TV that jumps out at you at the store because when you bring home the one thats several hundred dollars less, it will look just as good.

 

[Justin Time]

The newest technology is LED (Light Emitting Diode) and Sharp Aquos is probably the leader. But there is still a significant price premium over LCD or Plasma.

 

[Horney_Senior]

Iwould stick with the LCD the plasma generates some heat into your room also!

I was at Best Buy the other day and noticed they had LCD and LED. I take it the LED is newer technology. It had a sharper picture and a much higher price for the same size set.

 

[shordy]

There are 2 types of LED

I was at Best Buy the other day and noticed they had LCD and LED. I take it the LED is newer technology. It had a sharper picture and a much higher price for the same size set.

The two newest type of LCD's are LED's that have the LED light source 1) along the perimeter of the screen and 2) located within a certain quadrant of the screen.
1) The LEDs along the perimeter of the screen enables the manufacturer to produce the 1 inch thick deep LCD tv's, but the black colour depth is very much like a the standard LCD tv
2) The LEDs located inside the screen within a quadrant are as thick as the standard LCD tv's but produce better black colour depth levels - still not good as a plasma, but far better than regular LCDs.

 

[tboy]

The newest technology is LED (Light Emitting Diode) and Sharp Aquos is probably the leader. But there is still a significant price premium over LCD or Plasma.

the units in the stores now are LED back or side LIT, they are NOT LED tvs. The LEDs give it a lot brighter and crisper image and make it thinner but they are not the new OLEDs (which are about 3 times the price).

As stated, if you want to compare apples to apples make sure ALL the tvs you're looking at are set to neutral on the set up menu. The staff up the contrast on low contrast screens, up the brightness on dark screens etc etc and these settings greatly reduce the life of your screen (kind of like running a car flat out 24/7 as opposed to only at 50%).

The sales staff HATE it when I do this but F them. I want to see what the image looks like in it's natural state.....