questions about HDTV sets

[sonicshoulder]

The whole new industry push of – “you all now all of sudden need 3-D TV” is one of the more ridiculous and totally unnecessary marketing trends to have come around in a long while.

I love all the "new industry pushes" because for people who don't need the bullshit frills it brings the price down. I bought two Vizio 42" LCD 720p's. I'm far from knowledgable on the topic and told a buddy I wanted a zero maintenance, affordable flat screen, these are what he suggested and they are great. I'm assuming your not a tech guru since your just now making the leap so unless there is another tv next to yours to compare to your picture will appear perfect with 720p, and apparently the LCD's require the least maintenance. I usually go middle of the road with major appliances.

[Artifice]

Spend money on size and get a decent name manufacturer. The rest of the bells and whistles are mostly B.S. marketing, as you've already discovered. Please, please do not get suckered into paying an extra $200 or so for "widgets" or "apps" capabale TVs. They don't work well and you can duplicate their functions with a DVD player, PC, etc.

 

I have a 42" Toshiba LCD and a 54" Panny Plasma. Like them both. I would be gushing all over the place about the plasma being the best bang for your buck for one of those monolithic sized sets, but there's this little issue with the autoengineered settings for brightness being cranked up prematurely. If you're into that, just look for it on CNet. As soon as I put that out of my mind, Ir ealize that it's still a great TV.

 

Want some help?

 

Newegg has a Toshiba Regza 46" 1080p 120 HZ LCD on sale right now for $700: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889253209&cm_re=toshiba_regza-_-89-253-209-_-Product

 

This is a really nice, good sized HDTV from a reputable manufacturer at a very fair price. Newegg is also a very well known etailer.

 

LED Tvs are nice, but cost way too much. The Samsung ones are gimmicky and have a noticeably cartoonish picture (I could explain why).

 

I bought my plasma from Amazon and got free shipping and "white glove delivery". Big burly delivery guy hauled that beast into my house, unboxed it, and hooked it up (they wont wall mount it), for free. I tipped him a few bucks, but overall very solid experience.

 

Oh, and besides the 3D goofiness, a couple of other companies are advertising that their new LED TVs "turn into mirrors" when they're off, to keep your wife happy - cause you know, wives are vain creatures than need 54" mirrors in every room.

[Moss]

All I know is stay away from Mitsubishi. I bought one a few years ago (DLP) and have had nothing but issues with it to the point where I'm going to get rid of it. I will never buy one of their products again.

[Artifice]

All I know is stay away from Mitsubishi. I bought one a few years ago (DLP) and have had nothing but issues with it to the point where I'm going to get rid of it. I will never buy one of their products again.

 

I wouldnt argue much of this technology versus that, but DLP only caught on because it scaled better in terms of the cost of the huge screen sets. The industry was shocked when it took off. It's a really fragile technology.. and here's the important part - you have to replace the bulbs every 2-4 years, depending on your viewing habits. That can get rather costly, very quickly (@ $70-$195 per bulb).... not to mention the color wheel and all the issues with it. It's a dying tech too - I think only Mitsubishi is left in the business. Stay far far away.

[Moss]

I wouldnt argue much of this technology versus that, but DLP only caught on because it scaled better in terms of the cost of the huge screen sets. The industry was shocked when it took off. It's a really fragile technology.. and here's the important part - you have to replace the bulbs every 2-4 years, depending on your viewing habits. That can get rather costly, very quickly (@ $70-$195 per bulb).... not to mention the color wheel and all the issues with it. It's a dying tech too - I think only Mitsubishi is left in the business. Stay far far away.

 

Funny, the salesman didn't tell me all of that.

[ih8music]

Funny, at the time I was shopping, Mitsu's were considered the cream of the crop for HDTVs.

 

I have an 8 or 9 yr old 51" Toshiba DLP HDTV that I've never had to replace the bulb (or anything) on. It's on probably 6-8 hrs/day, and has been shipped cross country once (professionally) as well as two cross-town moves (where we clumsily moved it ourselves).

 

The thing is simply rock-solid. Too much so... I'd like an excuse to upgrade!