Flat Screen HD TV question

[GlennWatson]

I have been looking for a flat screen TV for three years and have yet to pull the trigger. I just cannot make up my mind.

• LCD or Plasma
• 42' 47' or 52'
• 120 mhz or the new 240
• Brand

Any suggestions? I would like to spend less than $2000.00 and I want to hang it on the wall.

[Crapweasel]

LCD and Plasma both have advantages and disadvantages.
Personally I prefer a plasma as it gives a better picture, but from what I hear, certain states in the USA are outlawing plasma tvs because they take more power to work.

Size wise, quite frankly its all a matter of going for the biggest one you can afford and on the space you have (basically, the bigger the better).

As far as the mhz, I cant comment, and brands are probably specific to whoever recomends them.
I personally have a JVC, and it has served me perfectly for about 18 months now.

Basically I would stick to a big name if I were you, JVC, Sony or something of that ilk (Japanese tech is generally the best when it comes to this sort of thing).

A lot of these tvs can be either freestanding or hung on a wall, but before you make any purchase, check on how much the bracket will cost as well.

I bought my JVC 42\" plasma from Amazon.co.uk, which I found to be a useful site for browsing and comparing, and was able to order a stand as well, as I wanted it freestanding.

[Peter J Poole]

Yeah, I keep circling this move too, then backing off to brood a while longer... Almost makes it good to be on a budget that gives me an excuse to defer making the call. Almost.

If you really want to do your head in, low cost high definition projectors are starting to make a strong entry into the market. And OLED is definitely a contender a few years from now...

Um.. This isn't exactly helping, is it? Sorry!

Cheers

[Ken Liner]

I haven't bought one yet either, but here are a couple of other things to consider.

I recently read that the big plasma companies are no longer going to make plasmas (they can't afford to continue producing 2 technologies). All monies will be put towards LCD production, as well as continuing research on OLED. I don't think there's an explicit date when the switchover will happen, but I'm sure this will go towards reduced Plasma prices.

Will reflection of light off the screen be a big issue? I think the "shiny" plasma screens would be worse if in direct view of doors/windows.

Plasmas are still cheaper than LCDs for a given size.

If you're not a serious gamer, I don't think you need the 240 refresh rate. 120 is probably more than enough for your average video or televised sporting event.

I've read that some of the "cheaper" companies like Vizio produce really good tvs, so they are definitely worth checking out. I don't know if they are sold in box stores like Best Buy, or only at warehouses like Costco.

Be wary of advertisements. Without digging deeper, its tough to know why similar tvs by the same company can be hundreds of dollars apart.

I'm looking forward to the day I get HDTV, but my current tvs (close to 10 years old) still work well. I figure the longer I keep putting it off, the better and cheaper the tvs will continue to become.

[Kenny]

I'm not sure about brands, LCD vs. Plasma, etc. but I think if you search for "HDTV comparisons" on Google you can find some great stuff.

Also, I will say I just read an article about how the size of your TV should be determined by how far away you sit from it. It was talking about how the bigger the TV, the closer you need to sit to really absorb the greatess (sometimes as close as 6 ft, heh). I can't seem to find it now, though, sorry. =\

Good luck!

[spectre615]

Consumer Reports had an excellent article on HDTVs a while back and that's what helped us make our decision. I'd highly encourage you to check that out. You can get to it on their website but it's a subscription based site. Someone with better search-fu than I can probably get a link.

One thing that will help a LOT is the handy chart below. It gives you a better idea of what size is best. If you get one TOO big for where you're at, you'll end up with "sitting too close at IMAX" syndrome.