Help me pick a tv! Please =) (1 Viewer)

[Bionix]

I'm on a pretty tight budget, so I've been looking at Vizio's which seem to be cheap and of good quality. I want at least a 37 incher, but also intrigued by the 42" sets. Unfortunatley, the circuit city in my area does not cary the 42" Vizio plasma or lcd model. So, all I've been able to see is their 50" plasma and 37" LCD. The 50" plasma looked pretty crappy, it looked kind of dull. The 37" LCD looked alot sharper and impressed me. I'm having a hard time deciding what to buy.

The 37" LCD is $800
The 42" Plasma is $900
The 42" LCD is $1000

I wouldn't mind spending $100 extra bucks on the 42" plasma if the picture quality is as good/better than the 37" LCD. The $200 difference on the 42" LCD is pushing my budget...Can somebody please help me decide? The salesmen also told me I'd need a $60 HDMI cable and $70-80 upconverting dvd player.

Thanks folks!

Doh, unfortunately I can't paste links to the sites yet...shrug.. 9 more posts until that privelege =)

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The salesman's full of crap. Order an HDMI cable online for $10. There won't be any visible difference. Also, you don't *need* an upconverting DVD player unless you really want one. The TV may do an OK job of upconverting DVD images by itself (I don't know the specs on those particular sets).

Also, don't go by how TVs look in the store. They don't make any effort to set them up properly. Read online about people's experiences with them to find out which one will look the best once you get it home.

BTW, if you belong to Costco, they tend to carry a number of sets from less expensive brands like Vizio.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Check out Monoprice to get an affordable HDMI cable.

 

[Bionix]

thanks for the heads up on the hdmi cable. Unfortunately costco doesnt carry any of these models.

Does anybody own one?? I was told that LCD's are better for watching DVD's, which is what most of my viewing will be.. and that plasma's can burn pictures into the screen so I shouldn't play video games on it. Right now, it's sounding like LCD is better.... which makes sense since it's $100 more.

 

[Thomas Ehlers]

Hi Sam--

We just recently purchased an LCD from Toshiba's Regza line, and DVD playback is really terrific. This unit happens to have an upconverting DVD player built-in which has been a great space saver since we use the TV in our bedroom.

I agree with Aaron's comment on the upconverting DVD player. If you want one, certainly get it, but don't feel that you need one. How DVD playback will look is going to depend on how you adjust/calibrate your set and the characteristics of your viewing room (i.e., amount of light, viewing distance, etc.)

LCD sets are going to be more expensive generally, but since you're into DVDs and games, I'd suggest looking at the LCD's you can afford.

Plasma TVs have been regarded for a while, despite burn-in concerns, as better choices but that seems to be changing these days. Early generation LCD sets were criticized for not being able to process fast action video without artifacts, but new sets like the Toshiba Regza LCD sets, don't have this problem. Image burn-in is becoming less of an issue with plasma sets, but there is still some concern.

The technology gap among all the different display types on the market today, and particularly among flat-panel displays, is narrowing and price points are falling as well. So you are entering into the market at a pretty good time because you have more good choices to choose from.

Hope this helps!

-Tom

 

[Werner_R]

I was in the same position as yourself only a few weeks ago, since my old CRT just gave up I was looking for a new TV.
I finally decided on the Panasonic 42" plasma. Plasma is still better for fast moving images (games or sports) and the colours are so much better then any LCD can produce. Don't worry about the burnin, it's pretty much a non issue any more if you break-in your tv for the first 100-200 hours.
I was also looking to buy a new upconverting dvd player to go with my new tv but after watching "Moulin Rouge" on my current dvd player on the Panasonic I can now safely say...I won't bother, it looks fabulous.
A very happy new Panasonic Plasma owner...

 

[Bionix]

Are any of these differences noticable? I mean.. the 37" LCD looks really nice, but unfortunatley at the time I can't justify spending $200 more for a 42" version of the same. $100 more for the plasma couuuld be justified if it's better in more ways than just size. Again, my main concern is movie playback image... I watch TV too on SD... but I'm most concerned about the movie quality. Will I see ghosting/artifacting on an LCD with fast moving images?

 

[Thomas Ehlers]

For me personally the LCD image looks better up close and at a distance, whereas I see distortion more from a plasma screen up close. I choose to look at the screen from a range of distances because I may not always be in the so-called 'reference standard' seating position within my family room when watching something or playing a game.

The latest versions of the sets you are looking at are likely going to offer better performance technology at their price points than their predecessors. So in the case of LCD's, you should not see the artifacts that have plagued earlier generations of these sets. There have also been improvements in color and contrast that enable LCD's to be more competitive with plasma sets.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Some LCD's still ghost or have tearing problems so yes it may be an issue. If you spend any time on AVS reading the various owner threads there you'll pretty much come away feeling they're all plagued with various issues Personally I prefer the look of plasma and the Panasonics seems to have the fewest issues/quirks so that's very likely what I'll be buying in the next week or so. Costco has the 2006 model on for a great price so I may get that to save a few bucks over the 07 model.

 

[Thomas Ehlers]

I have heard positive remarks about the Panasonic plasma sets as well. The challenge for us locally has been to do an A/B comparison of properly calibrated sets in local stores. We essentially took a chance with the latest LCD's from Toshiba and calibrated one as a bedroom set with fortunately positive results. It seems that any set that is not optimized will underscore whatever quirks still exist in the display. I have had to ask that certain adjustments be made on floor models to show off more of what a given set can do so we can make (hopefully) a reasonably educated decision about our next set for the family room.

 

[Raymond lee Leggs]

Is there an LCD TV under the Durabrand name at walmart?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

If there is, I wouldn't buy it.

Durabrand is not very dura-ble (har har). Buy a Durabrand clock radio if you like, but don't spend hundreds on that stuff.

 

[Bionix]

pretty sure I'm going with the 37" LCD Vizio set. Any reason I shouldn't? Something I don't know? I'm going to go to circuit city and use a 10% off coupon.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

If you belong to Costco, check there -- they carry Vizio and would be a lot cheaper than CC.

 

[Raymond lee Leggs]

I have a 5 piece HTIB system under that name, Its more like a computer system but it has an "8" sub that has a lot of bass. I with I had a receiver but that would be overkill and i'd be tempted to listen to raido stations at over 150 Db so I guess that system is enough!

And your talking to a guy who has 2 stereo systems playing simultanously in one room!

 

[Aaron Silverman]

That HTIB costs about $40, right?

Nothing wrong with it as long as it works, but Durabrand is the cheapest of the cheap. I doubt there's anything as expensive as an LCD TV under that name anyway.

 

[Raymond lee Leggs]

Yeah its only $40.00 but I do like the fact that it does not come with a DVD player or any receivers. and the sub can go down to 20 Hz with ease

Lenoxx sound- the company that makes the system has several other models I'd like to try out. I am curious about the 2.1 system I saw at the family dollar it has a bigger subwoofer! I do like thier portable CD players, which can out do the overrated sony CD players that sound a bit dull to my ears.