Television Purchase

[Menotti80]

I would suggest giving them the eye test. Head to Best Buy and spend some time just looking at the differences between tv's brands and the specs.

 

 

 

From personal experience, I wouldn't put much stock in the eye test at your local electronics store. They jack up the settings so much its fairly useless. When I purchased my 58" Samsung plasma, I read a lot of reviews on Amazon and AVS forums to narrow it down to 2 or 3 brands I wanted. At that point, I chose the one that was on sale since I knew they would all have quality pictures.

 

 

Yeah you can't completely trust what you see on display in the store. The TVs will have different settings and they will use different cables that can really make an impact.

[Invader3K]

That reminds me...make sure to calibrate your TV's picture settings when you get it home. Most sets come with the contrast setting way too high (this is sometimes called "torch mode") because they look better in the store that way under the bright lights. Leaving your television set like that can prematurely ruin it, though.

 

If you aren't sure how to properly adjust your TV's picture settings, you can do a search on a site like avsforum.com and someone will probably be able to tell you.

[jjkoestler]

Watch slickdeals.net for TVs and cables. There have been some amazing deals on TVs recently.

[SquirrelMaster]

That reminds me...make sure to calibrate your TV's picture settings when you get it home. Most sets come with the contrast setting way too high (this is sometimes called "torch mode") because they look better in the store that way under the bright lights. Leaving your television set like that can prematurely ruin it, though.

 

If you aren't sure how to properly adjust your TV's picture settings, you can do a search on a site like avsforum.com and someone will probably be able to tell you.

 

+1

 

Immediately turned my settings down to halfway as soon as I got it home. I read a lot of suggestions for a break in period of 100 hours(no letterbox viewing). I've been following that, but not religiously. The best part about plasmas, is the negative stigma they have. Thats one of the reasons why they tend to be so cheap, even for a name brand manufacturer(Samsung).

[Invader3K]

Oh gosh, when I was first selling electronics and plasmas came out, I heard so many silly rumors about them. It was pretty funny. Some of those are still around, too. I think my favorite was a customer who told me a Best Buy rep had told him that you had to "recharge" the gases in the plasma set on an annual basis.

[bjkrautk]

From personal experience, I wouldn't put much stock in the eye test at your local electronics store. They jack up the settings so much its fairly useless. When I purchased my 58" Samsung plasma, I read a lot of reviews on Amazon and AVS forums to narrow it down to 2 or 3 brands I wanted. At that point, I chose the one that was on sale since I knew they would all have quality pictures.

Yes and no. I will certainly admit that the TV watching environment in a big box retailer, favors alteration of certain TV settings ('torch mode' as referenced above), and that most retailers will use those settings to their advantage...usually to promote store-brands (e.g. Insignia, Dynex TVs at Best Buy), or bigger, higher-priced TVs. Issues with image quality / processing still show up on the display floor. If a cheaper, major manufacturer set looks better than a more expensive / store brand TV, that can be reassuring. You can also get a sense for geometry issues with the sets (which was a major concern when I was buying a few years ago; might be a thing of the past now).

 

A few weeks ago, I was looking at a Big Ten Network football game on a 60" TV at Sears (while waiting for an oil change). The artifacting was so noticable (fuzzy areas around the players, largely an artifact of the Cable TV compression) that I had to ask the attendant if I was watching the HDTV feed (it was). Live sporting events or action movies are great tests of picture quality, since there is a lot of movement on-screen.

 

One other thing you'll notice, when looking at refresh rates: since most broadcast content only has a refresh rate of 30 or 60 Hz, people / objects in motion on a 120 / 240 Hz screen tend to stand out more against static backgrounds (something I have heard referred to as a 'soap opera' effect). Most sets have options you can turn on to mitigate this effect, but it's something that really starts to bother me when looking at newer sets.

 

There are also a few, slightly superficial issues that you can find out in-store as well.

- Do you like the layout of the remote, and can you find all the features you'd want to use on the TV? (Sounds silly...but unless you're planning to use a universal remote, you're stuck with the one they give you.)

- Does it have a Digital Audio Out (in case you want a surround system down the line)?

- EDIT: (Knew I forgot something!) Does the TV have a QAM tuner? This special feature in some TVs can give you access to HD versions of your local broadcast channels - and possibly a few others - without a digital cable box or CableCARD device (like a TiVo). Depending on how you plan on using the TV, it might not be a deal-breaker....but it's certainly nice to have.

 

Be sure to do all the reading, like bruce mentioned (I definitely recommend the AVS forum as well), but don't pass up the opportunity to get eyes-on with your intended TV model before you buy.

[homer]

(1440 is the columns, and 1080 is the rows)

 

Actually, it's 1920x1080, but who's counting. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

720p is either 1280×720 or 1366 x 768.

Crap you're right. I was thinking camera sensor, not TV.

[pitchleague]

the "soap opera" effect is definitely in play on pre-recorded shows when watching in 120 hz and especially 240 hz. We have it on our tv (LG 55" LED--beautiful) and, although one could get used to it, we turned it off because it bugged my wife too much. I didn't mind it at all and I still turn it on for all sports events as it does help on live broadcasts. So I have to deal with only the commercials being "weird."

 

By the way, I call it the "BBC effect" since it looks more like British television than soap operas to me, although I do understand the reference.

[lcbj68c]

Thanks for all the help. I window shopped today and then compared what I was interested in against all the black friday deals that are going to be out there. The most thing that I was afraid of was the refresh rate (hz). So, I decided that I wanted Plasma, so that I would totally take hz out of my viewing equation. To answer some questions out there, my loveseat, couch, and recliner sit mostly near the far wall, opposite the tv, at 14.5 feet away. I've read that unless the tv is bigger than 50'' that the 720/1080 addition over vertical lines isn't seen very much. I didn't notice much myself today while viewing. Anyhow, I think I've narrowed it down to this 42' plasma that kmart will be selling for $399.

 

http://bfads.net/Kmart-Bl...2-720p-600Hz-Plasma-HDTV

 

Any concerns?

[logan82]

42" is pretty small from that distance.

[pitchleague]

Correction, 42" is VERY small for that distance. My chair is 13 1/3 feet from our tv and our 55" is just right, based on the charts that I had seen in the past. 60" could have been done but I wasn't willing to pay for that.

 

I don't mean to rain on your parade, and I realize that you probably have a budget in mind, but I could probably guarantee that you will be disappointed watching a 42" tv at that great of a distance.

[zurch1818]

For plasmas, I would highly recommend getting a Panasonic. According to the December 2010 issue of Consumer Reports, Panasonic is the most reliable plasma. I'm not sure how legal it is to post the actual charts, so I'm not going to do it. I will tell you some of the info though. Only 3 percent of them were either repaired or reported to have a serious problem after three years of use. Samsung was next at 5 percent and LG was next at 6 percent.

 

They don't even list Zenith's history. CR also says that no plasma brand really stood out as less reliable than the others, but they recommend getting one of the three brands listed above. Of the 8 plasma models that they rate in the 42" range, the top 4 are all Panasonics. Number 5 is an LG, 6 Samsung, 7 Sanyo, and 8 Insignia. If you have any questions about this, let me know.

[hawing]

Honestly, I was mildly surprised to see that Zenith televisions are still available. Our 1997 set is a Zenith.

[Invader3K]

Zenith is now owned by LG Electronics. I would have to assume a Zenith is just a re-badged LG at this point (not that that's a good or bad thing).

[mothershipconnection]

For plasmas, I would highly recommend getting a Panasonic.

 

As would I. I've had mine for 3 years and it looks fantastic. It's "only" 42", so I can't speak for huge screens, but mine looks very sharp with very good black display and perfect representation of fast-moving objects during sports.

[Blancofan1]

Not necessarily looking for a top of the line TV set, just something to replace the old tube set in our bedroom and wondering what the thoughts are on this deal from Wal-Mart.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=15185906#rr

42 inch RCA Plasma, 720 and only 60 HZ but like I said doesn't need to be the best for our purpose. We have a Sony Bravia for the living room, I just want to get rid of the old heavy set in the bedroom. Light reflection isn't an issue at all either. Thanks all for your input.

Was just looking at the Friday ad online and noticed they are also going to have a 42 inch Emerson 1080p LCD for $398. If that deal is available online I would actually prefer that one, but since I live the life of retail I will unfortunately be at work at 2am Friday so can't make it to the store to pick it up if it's not online.

[1992casey]

only 60 HZ

 

It's 600 Hz. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif 60 Hz caught my eye right away because that's way too low for plasma.

[danzig6767]

For plasmas, I would highly recommend getting a Panasonic. According to the December 2010 issue of Consumer Reports, Panasonic is the most reliable plasma.

I had a 42' Panasonic plasma for about two year before selling it in July on Craigslist so i could upgrade to a 50' Panasonic plasma now that prices are so cheap. I got it for only 650 dollars. The picture on both was/is fabulous, especially my new 50' Panasonic. I know multiple people who instead have an LCD and in many cases, a more expensive TV than mine, but none of them has a better picture IMO and mine is only a 720p.

 

If anyone does get a Panasonic plasma though or even an LCD, make sure you take the time to adjust the picture settings as to how exactly you want them. I must have spent at least an hour on both plasmas even though the picture was pretty good right out of the box. After adjusting the settings, the picture went from good to stunningly crisp. My mom has an LCD that my step-dad bought for her. It bugged me when visiting many times how her picture looked, so one day i played with the settings and there was a big improvement.

 

BTW, anyone low on cash that needs a TV, check out Craigslist. I sold my 42' which was only two years old and with a fantastic picture for only 275 dollars on Craigslist and my buddy got a great deal on a one year old LCD on Craigslist.

[RyDogg66]

You are right, you can find some good deals on craigslist, but you have to hunt and be patient. Selling your 2 year old 42 inch plasma for $275 sounds like a great deal for someone. Unfortunately, most people selling anything on craigslist are selling it for about 5% below retail, including sofas, televisions, video game systems.

[mothershipconnection]

Unfortunately, most people selling anything on craigslist are selling it for about 5% below retail, including sofas, televisions, video game systems.

 

Also, they're insane and possibly trying to scam you. Selling my wife's '96 Altima last year was quite the experience. I had all kinds of "military surgeons" trying to "buy" it for their "daughter with cancer" by mailed check, and then there were real people who never showed up while I wasted 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon.

 

Recently, we looked at living room sets, and many were like 10% below retail, we drove 30 min to look at a "leather set" that was vinyl (the seller was very unapologetic about this, despite telling me on the phone beforehand that it was 100% leather). It was a huge waste of time, so we just went and bought a set at Sam's Club for $300 more, but it's obviously new, flawless, and the set we picked.

 

I did, however, get my parrot on craigslist for a fantastic deal from a nice family that didn't have the time for him anymore.

[theavrock]

In case anyone out there was planning on getting up super early tomorrow, there are a ton of doorbusters available online right now, so you don't have to brave the lines.

I picked up a Samsung LED/Blu-Ray combo at 6 am this morning online.

[dadofandrew]

My wife often notices similar items on Freecycle that are selling for $100-200 on Craig's List. People always think their own crap is far more valuable than other people's.

[danzig6767]

You are right, you can find some good deals on craigslist, but you have to hunt and be patient. Selling your 2 year old 42 inch plasma for $275 sounds like a great deal for someone. Unfortunately, most people selling anything on craigslist are selling it for about 5% below retail, including sofas, televisions, video game systems.

My biggest issue with people on Craiglist is as much the buyers as the sellers, they often want to get stuff for a ridiculous bargain.

 

I had intended to sell my 42' plasma a few months earlier and put an add on Craigslist for 300 i believe, but my dog broke his leg a few days later. People though were still responding to the add and offering crap like 150 dollars, it was ridiculous. So when i tried selling it again after i paid for my dog's surgery, i put specifically in the add that the plasma was for sale for 300 dollars and i wouldn't negotiate. That if they thought the price was to high, then tough [expletive deleted], find a TV elsewhere. This lessened the number of replies from the first add, only a few asked if i'd take less and i deleted those replies instantly.

 

I was kinda in a hurry though before the 650 dollar sale on the 50' plasma ended and when a guy came to buy my TV for 300 and he had a van to fit a big TV in, i said take me to pick up my 50' and i'll knock off 25 bucks.

 

So in the future if i ever sell anything again on Craigslist, i'll do the same thing. State right in the add, don't waste your time trying to get the item for much less because it ain't happening.

 

 

(edit: language... please see language etiquette --1992)

[Invader3K]

Craigslist is tricky. I've actually had some success selling items I no longer needed. I find when selling you always want to post pictures, and be descriptive but to the point when describing your item. I also usually have a bare bottom price in mind I'm willing to sell the item at. I'll knock off a few bucks if they're willing to come pick it up at my house, versus me meeting them somewhere.

[valpocrewsader]

My extended family is going in together on a new TV for my grandparents. We're planning on a 40"-42" flat panel, name brand, and trying to stay around $500. Some of my relatives sound like they're biased towards LCD and are also hinting that 1080P is a good idea. I'm a plasma guy myself, and personally don't think it matters. I also don't think 720P is a bad idea, helps stay in budget and I doubt the g'parents will be able to tell the difference. Their viewing habits are mostly Wheel of Fortune, PBS, network sitcoms, nightly news, Nascar, and Packers football. They're upgrading from an old 20" crt and they won't even be hooking up cable or satellite to the TV -- roof antenna all the way. In this application, can anyone raise a convincing argument for 1080P instead of 720P or LCD instead of plasma? In this week's ads, I'm eyeing up the 42" 720P Panasonic plasma at KMart for $450 or the 42" 720P Samsung plasma at American also for $450.

 

And while I'm on the subject, why are all the ads these days listing the TV size as XX" Class.... Why "Class"? Is it just a CYA measure because the sizes aren't exact?