Flat screen TV - help me be cheap, er, thrifty

[j]

Too lazy to search and these things change so quickly... I am thinking about replacing my 15-year-old monolith of a TV with a 1080p flat screen. I'm thinking somewhere between 40 and 46" and I don't want to spend a ton on it. Slim profile and narrow margins would be good, because the TV goes in the corner right in front of the view and I want it to obstruct as little as possible. (I'm going to try to figure out how to mount it so I can drop it down out of the way when not in use.) I'm looking at a few that Costco.com has right now. Are any of the brands I've never heard of NOT a piece of junk? (Vizio, Sceptre, Haier, AOC, etc?) The most appealing one I see at the moment is this one at Costco I was hoping to get out for less $ than that because I don't really prioritize consumer electronics very high in the scheme of things, but it doesn't look like you can get much for less than about $12-1300 or so in the 1080p x 40"+ range. Is this Toshiba a decent choice? Does anyone know of an uber deal on something similar/better? Would appreciate any help.

 

[odoreater]

I have a 32" Vizio from Costco in my bedroom and it's decent. Picture quality is pretty good, though the sound is somewhat lacking.

 

[sleekblackroadster]

how close will you be sitting?

i was stuck in a weird spot. only had about your budget.. wanting 1080p blah blah..

but my room is very large and from the distance i sit at you cannot tell the difference between a 720 and 1080 unless its well above 50 inches in size. so a 40 inch 1080 was worthless.

so when making a decision i scrapped the 40 inch 1080p lcds and opted for a larger 50 inch 720p plasma by samsung that was the same price.. about $1400 with tax.

could not be happier!!!

the pq on the plasma is much nicer to my eyes than most any lcd i've seen except the uber expensive sammys with 30000:1 or 50000:1 contrast and those are only avail in 1080. image retention is not a real problem at all as far as i'm concerned with most new plasmas.

vizio is my favorite of the ones you've mentioned but the pq is noticably worse than the sammy, sony, sharp price point brands. my friends 37 inch 720p lcd seemed like a steal but the thing can't produce anything close to true black. and you can literally see the tube fluoro backlights through the picture on screen.

 

[j]

I don't want a gigantic screen (even 46" is pushing it but this one with the slim bezel is smaller than most) and the TV is fairly close to the seating - about 10-12' away from the sofa and chairs, 20' ish to the kitchen (don't watch from there), and 8-10' from the seating on the deck (when turned that way). I think I'd rather get a somewhat smaller, higher definition screen than a larger low def screen, esp. since I will be hooking up a computer to it and potentially a PS3/Bluray/etc. so I want the 1080p definitely.

One thing I've noticed is they are pushing 120hz now, does that make any real difference worth paying for? I doubt I'm going to bother.

Thanks for the input.

 

[haganah]

http://www.digitaldeals.net/article69128.html

There are a lot of other deals out there.

 

[GQgeek]

Get a Pioneer Kuro. Plasma > LCD.

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Get a Pioneer Kuro. Plasma > LCD.

No way! Plasma's easily impress because they look 'blacker', but color reproduction is less accurate. The problem is that a good LCD will cost you a lot more.

Actually, I think DLPs are very underrated. For watching movies, I don't think you can do better. It's just that they aren't as sexy as either plasma or LCD. The OP might want to consider getting a DLP; Samsung makes the best (by far).

For LCDs, I'd look to Sharp, Sony XBR, or Samsung. I like Sharp better than the other two. But price will be an issue for all three.

 

[matadorpoeta]

off topic, but when i was a kid all these brands were considered crap, except for sony. my friends and i would never pay top dollar for anything labeled a sumsung or a sharp. you may a swell say it's a vizio.

i remember the only acceptable brands being sony, jvc, and maybe panasonic. years later i found out from a japanese man that sanyo is considered a good brand in japan. we always thought of sanyo as imitation sony. also, toshiba was considered a no-name brand until about 8 years ago when consumer reports said they made the best televisions.

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Get a Pioneer Kuro. Plasma > LCD.

I think he said cheap, so Pioneers are out, but yes, plasma >>> LCD. Contrast, color, everything.

Panasonic makes great bang-for-buck plasmas, and the 42-inch 720p set they make goes for much less than $1000 from visualapex.com. No need for 1080p at that size.

--Andre

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

No way! Plasma's easily impress because they look 'blacker', but color reproduction is less accurate. The problem is that a good LCD will cost you a lot more.

Actually, I think DLPs are very underrated. For watching movies, I don't think you can do better. It's just that they aren't as sexy as either plasma or LCD. The OP might want to consider getting a DLP; Samsung makes the best (by far).

For LCDs, I'd look to Sharp, Sony XBR, or Samsung. I like Sharp better than the other two. But price will be an issue for all three.

LCDs have more saturated colors (which shows well in stores) but plasmas, at least the good ones like the Pio Kuro's, have more accurate color reproduction on top of better blacks and much better shadow detail.

However, usage should play a big part in selection. If you're watching in daylight in a bright room, LCD is the only way to go. I only really watch movies at night, so a good plasma is a no-brainer.

I agree that DLP is great. It should be on the table if space isn't an issue.

 

[JammieDodger]

Originally Posted by Andre Yew

I think he said cheap, so Pioneers are out, but yes, plasma >>> LCD. Contrast, color, everything.

Panasonic makes great bang-for-buck plasmas, and the 42-inch 720p set they make goes for much less than $1000 from visualapex.com. No need for 1080p at that size.

--Andre

Surely the bigger screens need a higher resolution, not lower?

I think you're going to say you'll be sitting further away so not need a higher rez, but then the screen is bigger so those pixels will be larger?!?

Originally Posted by matadorpoeta

off topic, but when i was a kid all these brands were considered crap, except for sony. my friends and i would never pay top dollar for anything labeled a sumsung or a sharp. you may a swell say it's a vizio.

i remember the only acceptable brands being sony, jvc, and maybe panasonic. years later i found out from a japanese man that sanyo is considered a good brand in japan. we always thought of sanyo as imitation sony. also, toshiba was considered a no-name brand until about 8 years ago when consumer reports said they made the best televisions.

I don't know about plasma, but today the brand name means so little, considering so many use the exact same screens but stick a different name and case design on it.

 

[DNW]

I bought my 37" LCD from Philips' outlet web page. They usually have decent deals on refurbs, but if you don't want to deal with potential problems, go for a new one. I think I paid around $600 shipped for a refurb one about 2 years ago. It still works like new. They have free shipping deals all the time, and there's usually a 5-10% coupon floating around somewhere. That said, just keep an eye out on slickdeals.net for TV deals. There's a good one pretty much every week.

 

[Nahmeanz]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Get a Pioneer Kuro. Plasma > LCD.

Pioneer Kuro > Everything

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by JammieDodger

Surely the bigger screens need a higher resolution, not lower?

It depends on any number of things, but a 42-inch 16x9 screen isn't big for 1080p resolution.

--Andre

 

[Southern-Nupe]

Originally Posted by Andre Yew

I think he said cheap, so Pioneers are out, but yes, plasma >>> LCD. Contrast, color, everything.

Panasonic makes great bang-for-buck plasmas, and the 42-inch 720p set they make goes for much less than $1000 from visualapex.com. No need for 1080p at that size.

--Andre
I rarely agree with you, but I can't help but back you up on the Panasonic recommendation, of which has continously been noted as the one of the top Plasmas in the industry (right behind Pioneer). In addition, Panny and Pioneer have started working together, so it would be interesting to see what develops.

....as for 1080P, there's really no point unless you're looking at a 50", the difference just isn't discernable at the 40-42" range.