TV gurus I need some direction.

[Spade]

Im looking to buy a TV and I know nothing about them. I leaning toward a 40-42" and want to spend 1000-1200 bucks give or take on size and price. Im was looking hard at the Samsung - 40" Class / LED / 1080p / 240Hz / 3D / HDTV $1199.99 from Best Buy but its hard to find. Im guessing due to the price because according to Best Buys site it's marked down from $1999.

Any advise on brand and/or model would be appreciated. BTW we have cable not dish.

Thanks Spade

 

[Mjavant1985]

If you wanna fight for your life in the crowds at walmart on black friday. They will have a 42'' 3D Vizio for $599.....

 

[Sinister04L]

There are a ton of threads discussing this. Do a search and read up. In the meantime, here are my choices.

42" on sale for $699.

Panasonic - 42" Class / Plasma / 1080p / 600Hz / 3D / HDTV - TC-P42ST30

Or upgrade to the 46" for $908.

Panasonic - VIERA / 46" Class / Plasma / 1080p / 600Hz / 3D / HDTV - TC-P46ST30

You can even upgrade to a 50" in your price range.

Panasonic - 50" Class / Plasma / 1080p / 600Hz / 3D / HDTV - TC-P50ST30

Or an even better 50" at the top of your price range.

Panasonic - VIERA 50" Class / Plasma / 1080p / 600Hz / 3D / HDTV - TC-P50GT30

 

[usafimj]

I like the new Sony 55" LED. Its about $1500

 

[cobracide]

Panasonic will have the best image quality (plasma), but Samsung is a somewhat close and at a decent price discount. I have the 63" Samsung a couple years old and it is great. Get the largest size you can afford.

Samsung - PN59D8000 - 59" plasma TV - 1080p (FullHD)

 

[thepizz]

I have a Tosibha LCD, decent. And a Samsung 60 inch LED, very nice. But listen to Sinister and get a Panasonic Viera Plasma. Wish I did.

 

[WireEater]

Why so small. In that price range I'd be looking for a nice 50+inch. Listen to Sinister, he knows his stuff about TVs.

 

[BM1]

This article has good information on LCD vs Plasma as well as size and usage environment recommendations. I read it before I bought my last TV and picked up some good information.

LCD vs. Plasma

 

[Lobo_Loco]

this one dont seem that bad:

42" LG LED-LCD HDTV, 3D, 1080p 120Hz HDTV, 42LW5300 - Walmart.com

 

[Spade]

I was always told to stay away from plasma because of the bulb life and how expensive they are to repair. And with the prices being so much cheaper than the LED tvs I thought that was a tell tell sign of the dependablity.

 

[LSUstang05]

I was always told to stay away from plasma because of the bulb life and how expensive they are to repair. And with the prices being so much cheaper than the LED tvs I thought that was a tell tell sign of the dependablity.

Not necessarily true anymore. Plasmas now last something like 15 years. When they first came out, I think the best was around 50,000 hours (5-6 years non stop). I have a plasma now and wouldn't have anything else. I love the colors and how clean it looks. Definitely take the advice of others here and buy the biggest screen size you can afford for that price range.

 

[SonicDTR]

I managed to get a LG LED 55" smart tv for about 1350$ off amazon. Cheaper than any local store I could find.

 

[Spade]

Not necessarily true anymore. Plasmas now last something like 15 years. When they first came out, I think the best was around 50,000 hours (5-6 years non stop). I have a plasma now and wouldn't have anything else. I love the colors and how clean it looks. Definitely take the advice of others here and buy the biggest screen size you can afford for that price range.

Well that 15 years makes me feel better about the thought of buyin a plasma. True 5-6 years was a good amount of time but for me it's not that long being our main tv is a 27" Sony Vega. LOL I know. I paid like 900-1000 bucks for that back in '99 and in my mind Im getting my moneys worth and until then I couldnt bring myself to upgrade. Between my parents and my brother I hear it all the time. My parents couldnt take any long and bought my wife a 40" tv for her birthday. That tv replaced a 27" Sanyo ($199 new in 1998) with a cable ONLY hook up. Thanks God my poor little wife is understanding of my crazy thought process sometimes!! God bless her!!:lol:

 

[Spade]

This article has good information on LCD vs Plasma as well as size and usage environment recommendations. I read it before I bought my last TV and picked up some good information.

LCD vs. Plasma

Thanks for posting that site. I was very helpful. It kinda pissed me off because my wife was thinking about buying me a TV for fathers day this past year and the d!ckweed at Best Buy told her LCD and plasma tvs are junk and LED is the only way to go. Probably trying to get more money out of her. Prick!

Thanks for all the info guy! Peace and stay safe. More info is welcome of course!!

 

[vertcobra99]

I know the new Panny plasmas have a life of 100,000 hours now. Which means if you watch 8 hours of TV a day it will take 35 years before the screen is half as bright as the day you got it.

I don't know anyone that watchs 8 hours of TV a day... let alone 4. But lets say you watch 4 hours a day... it would last you the rest of your life... 70 years...

I think its safe to say that life expectancy of your plasma should not be a deciding factor on weather or not to purchase considering all the superior qualities that they have over LCD's including picture, viewing angle, refresh rate, and color accuracy.

Burn in was once a problem with plasmas but is now a thing of the past (at least with panny) In case you don't know what that is. Its when an image is left on the screen for extended time and when you turn the station you can see a ghost outilne of previous image. Usually seen when the screen is black. This used to be a big problem when plasmas first came out. But has been eliminated in newer models.

The only area where LCD has an edge on plasma is power consumption where LCD's use considerably less power. everything else Plasma > LCD

 

[Carbd86GT]

I'm no TV guru, but I purchased a 42" LCD Vizio last year on Black Friday and I've been very pleased with it. Perfect size for my 1 bedroom apartment living room.

 

[BM1]

Thanks for posting that site. I was very helpful. It kinda pissed me off because my wife was thinking about buying me a TV for fathers day this past year and the d!ckweed at Best Buy told her LCD and plasma tvs are junk and LED is the only way to go. Probably trying to get more money out of her. Prick!

Thanks for all the info guy! Peace and stay safe. More info is welcome of course!!

No problem. The only thing I'd ever ask a Best Buy employee is where the bathrooms were at. ;-)

 

[SVT F15O]

this one dont seem that bad:

42" LG LED-LCD HDTV, 3D, 1080p 120Hz HDTV, 42LW5300 - Walmart.com

That seems like a pretty fair deal.

It makes me sick to think about what I paid for my 42" Sharp Aquos just a few years ago.

 

[JD03Cobra]

I prefer a plasma due to the softer images and darker colors. I have a Panasonic 65" Viera and it's absolutely amazing!

Like others have said, get the biggest you can afford.

 

[Sinister04L]

I was always told to stay away from plasma because of the bulb life and how expensive they are to repair. And with the prices being so much cheaper than the LED tvs I thought that was a tell tell sign of the dependablity.

Plasmas don't even have bulbs lol. The only thing about plasmas being cheaper is it makes them a much better value. Higher end plasmas like Panasonic (there are crap models, just like any kind of tv) are rock solid. You've been given some good info and that site spells it all out pretty nicely. I prefer plasma for several reasons. Generally more accurate colors, better contrast ratio, deeper blacks, better shadow detail, better off-axis viewing angles, and the big one is how they handle motion. They don't need any special processing to help with image blur which will distort the image. All of that and cheaper too.

Some people love to have their tv's brightness and contrast cranked up to retina searing levels and that's what looks good to them, and you won't get that with a plasma. Different strokes for different folks, I don't like it.