Buying a New TV

[Warick]

If you are on a budget, or even if you aren't, plasma is the best bang for the buck. Less expensive than LED/LCD, better picture quality (imo), natural skin tones, dark blacks, color that pops, and viewable from just about any angle (at least mine can be), ultra fast refresh rates, great for sports.

I have a 42" Panasonic I bought about 4 years ago, and it's a great tv. I paid $899 at the time, which was less than half of what I would have paid if I bought the new LED LCD tv, and I think it's a better tv. My mom has the tv now, and she literally keeps the tv on 23 hours a day, and the picture is still great. The TV has never had problems with image retention or burn in, and that's with her watching those shopping shows with the scrolling tickers at the bottom.

I'm planning on buying a new Panny 60" sometime in the next few months, hopefully.

 

[Mash]

Plasma's used to be more expensive, but their price has fallen due to their life span isn't anywhere near as long as LCDs and LEDs. I would recommend not going with Plasma for that reason unless you replace your TV every couple of years.

Im sorry but this is just wrong......it may not be as long as LCD..but every 2-3 yrs? Im sorry this is false and I have no idea where you get that info from

Please dont put out false statements like this.....

In fact Plasma's now will do from 60,000 - 100,000 hrs......at 60000 that will give you seven years of continuous viewing 24 hours a day - 7 days a week

Plasma has that too. Samsung at least has the option to turn it off in some of their TVs, not sure about other brands.

Plasma also has horizontal banding that LCD/LED doesn't have. Which for me is the one thing I hate about my current TV, and will eliminate Plasma as an option in the future.

Panasonic also has this option and it can be turned off......It was only put in as a feature recently. Plasma never had the soap opera effect before that option was installed.


Banding? Yes....It happens on plasma's .....Ive owned several plasma's and never notice banding on TV or Bluray viewing....but...it does occur....There isnt the perfect TV out there....but you pick your poison here.....Plasma has the better picture quality and reviews and majority ISF-trained calibrators will tell you the same.

You take the chance on banding or minor image retention that goes away...or you deal with soap opera effect....motion blur....bad angle viewing.....poor blacks...etc......I guess its all up to the buyer.....I just dont recommend getting fooled by the bright looks of LCD\LED on stores showrooms.

That being said.....like I mentioned before....depends on what your looking for.....movie viewing.....daytime viewing.....playing games like xbox....etc.

I have both a samsung plasma and a panasonic plasma and never had any image retention or banding....Im a gamer but Im also a vivid movie watcher... ....also I love the fact that my plasma's dont have much lag ...

Anyways....dont want to sound like a plasma boy here......Just wanted to chime in on the differences....

 

[Future]

Is it true that the plasma in plasma TV's burn out after a while?

I think thats only if they are on like 24 hrs a day for 9 years or something.

I've had a plasma since...04? and its still looks as it did new.

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

Amazon of course is a great source.

Also take a look at Dell.com. It's where I bought my Panasonic Plasma a few years ago. Great prices, good service and if you've got decent credit you can get the Dell credit card with 0% financing on the TV for 12-18 months (depends one whatever the current deal is)

 

[tko112204]

Ended up buying the 47" LG LED 1080p 120Hz that was mentioned in this thread.

At 578.00 it was the best deal I thought. And even saved me a little bit of money out of my budget.

Thanks for all the help guys. It was much appreciated.

 

[justbob]

Ended up buying the 47" LG LED 1080p 120Hz that was mentioned in this thread.

At 578.00 it was the best deal I thought. And even saved me a little bit of money out of my budget.

Thanks for all the help guys. It was much appreciated.

Where did you get it . been looking to buy the same set.
My panasonic lcd went out in 3 -3 1/2 years . Repair man told me to buy the LG or Samsung.

 

[kmp77]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...HDTV/4834361.p?id=1218540193787&skuId=4834361

This is what I have..awesome tv! Only $549!

Samsung 51" 720p Plasma

 

[YosemiteSam]

Where did you get it . been looking to buy the same set.
My panasonic lcd went out in 3 -3 1/2 years . Repair man told me to buy the LG or Samsung.

Dude! Go Samsung, not LG!!! LG used to only "rebrand" their products except for the GoldStar name. (ie, crap) They are still known for that.

Samsung on the other hand is know for being the best bang for the buck. (Ie, picture, price and quality parts) Many TVs you could get quality parts, but the TV itself wasn't that great, or you would get great picture (Visio), but the quality of the parts (or price) weren't that great.

Samsung provided all three ingredients. Quality parts, picture quality, and finally price. (ie, best bang for the buck)

 

[justbob]

Thanks Sam ------Will change directions

 

[Diogenes]

Dude! Go Samsung, not LG!!! LG used to only "rebrand" their products except for the GoldStar name. (ie, crap) They are still known for that.

Samsung on the other hand is know for being the best bang for the buck. (Ie, picture, price and quality parts) Many TVs you could get quality parts, but the TV itself wasn't that great, or you would get great picture (Visio), but the quality of the parts (or price) weren't that great.

Samsung provided all three ingredients. Quality parts, picture quality, and finally price. (ie, best bang for the buck)

Samsung's PQ rivals Sony with Sony's being only ever so slightly better. The difference in price for the basically the same TV (size, connections, etc.) makes Samsung a no brainer.

 

[Route 66]

Bought my first Samsung 60in. I too was concerned about the soap opera effect. Mine had it and it can be shut off. It's fun turning it on during old movies as it makes you feel like you're there on the set.

 

[a_minimalist]

Dude! Go Samsung, not LG!!! LG used to only "rebrand" their products except for the GoldStar name. (ie, crap) They are still known for that.

Samsung on the other hand is know for being the best bang for the buck. (Ie, picture, price and quality parts) Many TVs you could get quality parts, but the TV itself wasn't that great, or you would get great picture (Visio), but the quality of the parts (or price) weren't that great.

Samsung provided all three ingredients. Quality parts, picture quality, and finally price. (ie, best bang for the buck)

I'm a Samsung guy but I think Panasonic is up there too.

 

[FloridaRob]

just went thru this a couple of months ago. I first purchased the Sharp LED 60 inch but while some pictures were just wow I hated the soap opera effect, I hated the motion blur and within 2 weeks was just hated it. I brought it back and replaced it with the Panasonic Plasma GT Series 60 inch-My only regret is I did not get the 65 inch. Wow what TV. It is as close to perfection as you can get.

I will calibrating it pretty soon but even without tweaking, the picture is just perfect. I am so glad I switched. The 50 inch should be within shooting distance of your price range. I thougth I would miss the brightness of the LED but after getting the Plasma, it is nice to watch a TV with true color and without Reds and Blues blowing up all over the screen. LEDs cannot touch the black levels or the richness of the colors that are in a Plasma.

Best Tv on the market without a doubt. The plasma has about 100,000 hours of life or the way I watch TV. And even if I watch TV four hours every day which I don't and I got 30,000 hours, I would have about 20 years of watching. By that time I figure I will be too old to care. Ten years from now TVs will be so different anyway. But until then, this one will be just fine.

If you buy online and don't like it, I am not sure if you have an option to replace it. I paid $200 more for this Tv than I could buy it online for and decided it was worth it for the abiliity to get my money back or replace it if I did not like it. Bought it at BestBuy.

 

[tko112204]

Where did you get it . been looking to buy the same set.
My Phillips lcd went out in 3 -3 1/2 years . Repair man told me to buy the LG or Samsung.

Walmart