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EarlJam
05-12-2008, 09:09 AM
Apologies if this has been brought up before, but I've used the advice I've gotten from here many times and well, I'm going to the well again.

I have an old, rather crappy TV and want one of dem der nice, plasma jobbies. I don't have a ton of money to spend but would like to buy one this weekend to mount on my wall at the Earl Cave.

I'll take any recommendations on type (technology), brand, and most importantly, cost and deals. I'm assuming the best thing to do is NOT to go to a Circuit City or some place like that.

Any insights, recommendations would be most helpful.

Thanks!

-EarlJam

OZZIE4DUKE
05-12-2008, 09:20 AM
Apologies if this has been brought up before, but I've used the advice I've gotten from here many times and well, I'm going to the well again.

I have an old, rather crappy TV and want one of dem der nice, plasma jobbies. I don't have a ton of money to spend but would like to buy one this weekend to mount on my wall at the Earl Cave.

I'll take any recommendations on type (technology), brand, and most importantly, cost and deals. I'm assuming the best thing to do is NOT to go to a Circuit City or some place like that.


From a warranty/support/return privilege point of view, buy it from Costco or Sam's Club, and get their extended warranty, which is fairly cheap. If your unit has an infant mortality problem, or it is not what you expected, just take it back and get another one, or something else, with no hassles.

I can't comment on brands or technologies, as I haven't shopped for one in a while. But I'd ask here too to get the best expert opinions!

hurleyfor3
05-12-2008, 10:15 AM
Why do you need a teevee now? There's nothing to watch until basketball season starts again.

EarlJam
05-12-2008, 10:21 AM
Why do you need a teevee now? There's nothing to watch until basketball season starts again.

Agreed that it would be better to make the purchase in October, but there is still plenty of baseball to watch, namely, The ATLANTA BRAVES (who, by the way, have a big double-header today).

-EJ

hurleyfor3
05-12-2008, 10:25 AM
I thought you were an Orioles fan. Living in the atl is apparently brainwashing you.

EarlJam
05-12-2008, 10:31 AM
I thought you were an Orioles fan. Living in the atl is apparently brainwashing you.

I am an O's fan first, but can't get them on TV here. Also, they stink and while they will always be my favorite team no matter how good or bad they are (I'm loyal), I simply can't watch them when they are that bad. It's painful, disgusting and sad (much like Rosie O' Donnell).

Seriously, when I went to see them play in Toronto last year, I came away from the game rather depressed. It's just an AWFUL team to watch right now.

-EJ

Channing
05-12-2008, 10:46 AM
It's painful, disgusting and sad (much like Rosie O' Donnell).

\

sidetrack for a moment - did anyone see Family Guy make fun of Rosie O'Donnell last night? It was hilarious.

DukeDude
05-12-2008, 11:13 AM
Go with LCD technology. They are lighter in weight than Plasma sets and can be adjusted brighter for viewing in a room with a lot of light.

Check out the 120Hz models from Samsung. The motion smoothing is really impressive, although there are a few issues with it. I bought the 40" version of last year's model from amazon.com. It was a lot cheaper than buying from Best Buy.

EarlJam
05-12-2008, 11:26 AM
Go with LCD technology. They are lighter in weight than Plasma sets and can be adjusted brighter for viewing in a room with a lot of light.

Check out the 120Hz models from Samsung. The motion smoothing is really impressive, although there are a few issues with it. I bought the 40" version of last year's model from amazon.com. It was a lot cheaper than buying from Best Buy.

Freakin' awesome info, thanks! If you don't mind me asking, how much was it? Or what is the general range???

Channing
05-12-2008, 12:29 PM
what is the "formula" to figure out the ideal size of the TV? It something like # of feet away from the TV you will be watching divided by something.

CameronBornAndBred
05-12-2008, 12:57 PM
The great thing about them is you can compare so many models side by side. See what value will get for your price range. Then if you think you can get it cheaper online, at least you will have a feel for what you are getting.

WheatDevil
05-12-2008, 01:06 PM
I'll second the Samsung recommendation. After 12 years with the old tube I took the LCD leap with a Samsung 4071. Incredible.

Put it above the fireplace and bought a custom picture frame (half-price hobby lobby sale) to put around it.

The only drawback is that I can't bring myself to leave the HD channels.

JasonEvans
05-12-2008, 01:22 PM
EarlJam-- hugely important question here...

Do you have HD Cable or Satellite? The nice HD TVs (I too have a Samsung that I adore, it is a 56-inch DLP) are worthless if you do not have HD coming into your house to broadcast upon them.

--Jason "once you watch a few sporting events in HD, you will not be able to go back-- I watchs tuff in HD that I do not even like just because I love watching anything in HD" Evans

EarlJam
05-12-2008, 01:40 PM
EarlJam-- hugely important question here...

Do you have HD Cable or Satellite? The nice HD TVs (I too have a Samsung that I adore, it is a 56-inch DLP) are worthless if you do not have HD coming into your house to broadcast upon them.

--Jason "once you watch a few sporting events in HD, you will not be able to go back-- I watchs tuff in HD that I do not even like just because I love watching anything in HD" Evans

I do not currently have HD. How much is that? Can I get it through Comcast (my current provider?).

My God. I'm soooooooooooooo 1990s. Ignorant on all this stuff.

Thanks for heads up on this! I didn't know!

-EJ

billybreen
05-12-2008, 01:45 PM
I do not currently have HD. How much is that? Can I get it through Comcast (my current provider?).

My God. I'm soooooooooooooo 1990s. Ignorant on all this stuff.

Thanks for heads up on this! I didn't know!

-EJ

LOL at you!

But seriously, at what point do the mods need to dump this in the 'Embarrassed to admit' thread? ;)

EarlJam
05-12-2008, 01:49 PM
LOL at you!

But seriously, at what point do the mods need to dump this in the 'Embarrassed to admit' thread? ;)

On a related note, I still have a Zenith VCR that I went 50/50 on with my brother and purchased in 1980. It still works perfectly. Now no, I do NOT use the VCR as my main movie-watching technology device. I have long-since moved up to DVDs. But I do find it utterly amazing that the VCR still works after all these years. And we used it a lot too!

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhh ZENITH!

-EarlJam

DukeUsul
05-12-2008, 01:50 PM
If you have a decently sized room, and are interested in saving money I'd recommend a DLP. I have a Samsung 60" DLP (with an LED light engine). I personally feel the picture quality of a DLP is leaps and bounds beyond an LCD. The drawback is that they are not small enough to mount on the wall. They are rear-projection and require a stand or piece of furniture to sit on. The Samsung's are real thin though (the 60" TV I have is only about 13" deep). If your room is small, there's definitely something to be said for a real flat-panel. But I love the bang for the buck of the DLP. I paid around $2300 for mine, and an LCD or Plasma at that size would have been $4000.

Also I recently switched from TimeWarner cable to DirecTV. Purely due to the HD programming. I have no idea what you get from Comcast where you are. But I went from I think 17 HD channels for nearly $100 a month to over 40 HD channels for about $50/month with DirecTV (the price will go up a bit after the big rebates I got for the first year, but will still be around $70/month next year).

I bought mine through Crutchfield for two reasons. By buying from an online retailer that doesn't have stores in NC, I was able to avoid paying sales tax (if you follow the rules, though, you're supposed to claim it on your state tax return) and I found Crutchfield's warranty to be longer and cheaper than I could get through other retailers. So their price for the TV was greater than others, but with no sales tax and the cheaper (and longer) warranty, it ended up being cheaper.

DukeDude
05-12-2008, 01:54 PM
Freakin' awesome info, thanks! If you don't mind me asking, how much was it? Or what is the general range???

It cost around $1500 back in January. It is the same 4071 model that WheatDevil has. You can get a very good TV that size for around $1000 dollars, but once I saw the 120Hz sets with motion processing, I had to have it. Go to the store and check them out.

JasonEvans
05-12-2008, 01:56 PM
I do not currently have HD. How much is that? Can I get it through Comcast (my current provider?).

My God. I'm soooooooooooooo 1990s. Ignorant on all this stuff.

Thanks for heads up on this! I didn't know!

-EJ

It depends on how many channels you want and what kind of plan you are on. For example, do you bundle services with Comcast, like both cable and internet?

I would suggest calling Comcast and figuring out how much it will cost to upgrade to HD cable. Personally, I would not bother with poackages that get you hundreds of additional channels, most of which you will never watch. You almost certainly want the cheapest plan that will get you 20 or so HD channels because you are going to end up pretty much only watching HD once you see it. I have a plan that gets me all the broadcast nets plus ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, TNT, Discovery, and about 10 other channels in HD... that is all that I need. Make sure you ask about what starter packages Comcast has as you may be able to get a really good deal. I think I got 6 months of HD cable for like 35 or so bucks per month. At the end of 6 months it was supposed to go up to like 60 bucks a month but I called them and told them I had been a longtime customer and they checked my records and let me stay on the cheaper rate for another year. Sweet!

You will also want to inquire about an HD DVR because your old TIVO or whatever will likely not record HD programming. I pay something in the neighborhood of $10/month for my HD DVR through Comcast (as an aside, it sucks compared to TIVO, but I live with it).

You should see if these monthly costs are something you can handle before you get an HD ready TV. It is crucial to understand that everything in your viewing chain must be HD for you to get an HD picture.

If the signal coming into the house is not HD, you don't get HD.
If the DVR does not record in HD, you don't get HD.
If the TV does not broadcast in HD, you don't get HD.


Get back to us once you have this part of it figured out, then we can talk about the merits of various brands, where you should shop, tricks for getting a better deal, whether you should go 720p or 1080p, whether you should do DLP, LCD, or plasma, and all kinds of other stuff.

-Jason "when I got my recent Samsung, I studied this stuff extensively and have some strong opinions on what works under what circumstances" Evans