209 replies to this topic

[PikkasMom]

mojax that was great..thanks so much for sharing

[Russell Burrows]

Had my 32 inch Olevia since BF 2006 and in 2007 I got an Element 32 inch and the Olevia blows it out of the water in PQ and AQ. So I was wondering what other Best Buy or CC doorbuster HDTV have the same Olevia quality as I am very hesitant about either Insignia or another Element. Thank you for reading this.

[len_mullen]

I stand by my earlier predictions, but I won't be standing in line on BF -- not for a TV anyway. I grabbed the Samsung 720p 50" plasma + 1200w Samsung HTIB. Not sure how to apportion the discounts, but I think $930 (after Discover card cash back) for a 50" 720p plasma plus a 1200w HTIB will be tough to beat on BF. Hope I'm wrong. There will still be time to return after the fliers come out. I'm just not counting on it.

[Lanhawk]

I too am looking for a flat panel for the bedroom. I currently have a sony 37" bravia projection tv and would love to get my hands on 42 " for 499, then move the 37" to the bedroom. As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong) that you don't need 1080i for anything under 37" and can get by on 720 but anything larger your picture will suffer with 720. So ysay ou wouldn't want a say 50" with 720.

[KKoepp31]

Somebody had mentioned something about the LCD's not showing sports very well. This is to be expected as they don't have good enough refresh rates to avoid blur. Unfortunately they do not make plasma's under 42" (that I know of). I'm actually in the market for both a bedroom and living room flat screen this holiday season. Either 32" or 37" LCD (no choice for plasma) in the bedroom and then 50"+ plasma in the living room. I still have to take some measurements to see what will fit, while trying to avoid putting it over the fireplace. I get a work discount on Panasonic products that will put their new 58" plasma in the $2500 range. As for the bedroom TV, I'm a big tech kind of guy and don't want to go too cheap. A 720p set would be fine at those smaller sizes, but I would probably want a good brand name.

[len_mullen]

Somebody had mentioned something about the LCD's not showing sports very well. This is to be expected as they don't have good enough refresh rates to avoid blur.

I don't like LCDs. To me they look different up to about $4k. From there LCDs look good to me. I have always known this and learned why at a streaming media conference in a session about why HDTV hasn't caught on (it was a few years back). I'll try to summarize for those who are interested...

Old CRTs were 60i. They painted a picture on a screen 30 times per second. They did this by moving a gun across the screen exciting phosphors to create colors. They excited every other line each time down the picture tube. As soon as a phosphor was excited, it began to dim. By the time the gun was making its second pass, the first lit 'pixels' were pretty dim. This resulted in a slightly blurred image our brains embrace as smooth.

LCDs turn square pixels off and on. They stay fully lit and when looked at closely, appear squarish. Absent the blurring/smoothing, the images do not look right to our brains. Some people are more sensitive to this than others. Much has been made of 120hz. Supposedly, painting the image twice as often reduces the defects of the LCD. In reality, TV comes at 30fps or less and painting the same picture four times before changing it doesn't smooth anything. So, LCD makers load two frames and estimate/interpolate/approximate/fabricate additional frames in between. How well they do this determines how smooth an LCD looks.

Plasma works more like a CRT with the gasses getting all excited and then dimming, so it tends to look better to our brains.

I'm not an engineer, but that is how it was explained to me and the explanation matches my perception, so I got a plasma.

Happy shopping.

[wx4svr]

Anyone tried out a Vizio? How are they? What size do you have? How much did you pay (If you don't mind me asking)? Any bad things about it? My current LCD (got it 4 years ago on BF) is going out. =/ AVOID OLEVIA.

[mojaxs34]

i have a vizio and i love it.. its a 50 inch plasma.. got it as sams club.. i have had it about a year and half now. i paid $1400 for it. now sams club has a new model 50 inch vizio for $1098 and thats an everday price.

[wx4svr]

i have a vizio and i love it.. its a 50 inch plasma.. got it as sams club.. i have had it about a year and half now. i paid $1400 for it. now sams club has a new model 50 inch vizio for $1098 and thats an everday price.

Nice. Thanks a lot! I'm on the hunt now. Don't need anything quiet that big. It is just going to replace my one that just went out here in my office.

[Lusha120]

Anyone tried out a Vizio?
How are they?
What size do you have?
How much did you pay (If you don't mind me asking)?
Any bad things about it?

My current LCD (got it 4 years ago on BF) is going out. =/ AVOID OLEVIA.

I bought an olevia 3 yrs+ ago (32 inch about $600) we love it. Picture quality is great. sorry you got a bad tv. Tell everyone they are bad = better deal for me! looking to upgrade on size maybe 50? but atleast a 42 in. Olevia. Apparently the tv has to be just as big as the wall it goes on.....

[wx4svr]

I bought an olevia 3 yrs+ ago (32 inch about $600) we love it. Picture quality is great. sorry you got a bad tv. Tell everyone they are bad = better deal for me! looking to upgrade on size maybe 50? but atleast a 42 in. Olevia. Apparently the tv has to be just as big as the wall it goes on.....

Yep. Olevia is on my "bad" list. (In my head, I didn't say "bad" ) So, I'm thinking of a Vizio. Just trying to find the right one now, and more importantly, how to manage the MASS of cables I have running. I have all the cables ran through the wall, but my old LCD set upon this AWESOME stainless steel "LCD Tower" that housed all my electronics and surround sound equipment. My new LCD prolly won't fit as it will be too big, so I now have to find a way to run my automation system through the wall, or a neat looking solution to my new TV. (That was a wordy paragraph... suppose thats what you get while I type this while having a splitting migraine )

EDIT: For the record, my Olevia TV did go out.

[bflip552]

Vizio makes a 32" plasma they sell at Walmart for $530

[marypat58]

We have had a Vizio 50" for two years now and have been happy with it so far. You may all be aware of this already but I wanted to put this out there just in case. When we had both Directv and Time Warner Cable installed (at different times, of course) with a DVR, the installers told us that they had no remote control code for Vizio and that we would have to use both the DVR and TV remotes to control things. This is not the case. If you try some of the codes they have listed for other TV brands, you will find one that works for the Vizio TVs.

[scrapinlin]

I too am looking for a package deal.... Wanting a 46" Samsung or Sony LCD HDTV......any suggestions? Can anyone answer her question below: BB has 46" 1080P HDTV+ Bluray+5.1 channel home theater +setup for $2800 Is this good deal or should i wait till BF or after? Thanks!

[scrapinlin]

LCD or Plasma................what is the difference???? 720 or 1080?????????? what is the difference? Obviously new to all this - thanks for the help.

[techman01]

Greetings: This only applies to those in the NJ/NY market, but those wanting plasma/lcd tv's should be going to PC Richard & Son. Last year, they ran the 42" Panasonic Plasma that Best Buy had for $899, for $699. Also, they had the kdl40s300 for $799 on Black Friday; and when they couldn't fill all the orders by the end of the year, they gave out free upgrades to the kdl40v2500! For those that don't know the company, they have 50 superstores in the region, and do everything in-house. Look for them to undercut BB and CC this year as well.... They don't run 5 hour sales, they do the sale all day and when they run out of the piece, they take orders on it still... Got a bunch of tv's there last year......(They are currently running this years Pansonic for $649...th42px80u(in-store only)...who knows what black friday will bring... ~~Tech

[len_mullen]

LCD or Plasma................what is the difference????

720 or 1080?????????? what is the difference?

Obviously new to all this - thanks for the help.

I just bought the Samsung (TV + HTIB for $927 after Discover cash back) bundle from BB. I have the HTIB and the TV set up in a spare bedroom while I break it. It will be paired with a PS3 in a couple months.

I've been on the prowl for hdtv for a couple years and have decided now is the time to buy because...

1) I have a blu-ray player (ps3)
2) I have a hd video game console (ps3)
3) There is lots of hd content on tv (dish)
4) Prices are plummeting
5) Quality is impressive

What to buy? Plasma. It looks better and you tend to get more TV for the same money. The difference is most apparent watching sports. The motion is smoother.

One caveat: a plasma with a reflective screen looks great in low light, but not so great in a bright room. If your room is very bright during your viewing time, you'd be better off with an LCD. I *really* wanted the plasma, so I put up shades and curtains -- where there's a will, there's a way.

720p or 1080p? Depends on the size of the set, how close you sit, and how discriminating you are. My set looks great at six feet. My couch is ten feet away. The PS3 comes with wireless controllers, so even the kids won't be close enough to discern. Also, there is not much 1080p (blu-ray) content out there, so you will likely be looking at scaled 720p or 480p. 720p content will probably look better on a 720p set. Full HDTV (1080p) is this year's must have, so 720p can get you a significant discount. I figure the money I save getting the 720p this year will probably get me a 1080p when 1440p is the rage.

What's the difference? It's in the way the screen is drawn. With lcd, you have a square pixel being set to some color and sitting there at that color perfectly until it is set to another color. If you look real close, you will see these jaggies. The more pixels you have, the closer you have to look, but you can see the squareness. Plasma works more like a CRT. The gas is excited and gives off a glow. The glow begins to fade quickly and the softness around the edges is perceived as smoothness by the brain.

That said, best thing to do is LOOK at TVs. If you can not get excited by one or another in the store, you won't notice a difference in your living room.

I'm breaking the set in in a spare bedroom we refer to as Santa's Workshop. I've been looking at this set for maybe six hour altogether. It's amazing. I haven't even watched HD programming on it -- just upconverted standard DVDs.

The thing is that you are going to get a very good deal on a very good set. Your investment will be low enough that you won't feel bad if something really amazing comes out next year.

Do visit stores. Measure the distance between your sofa and your TV and walk/stand at that distance from the sets. Make a list of all the sets that look good to you. Price out the sets so you know what a bargain looks like and watch the deal forums for a good deal. If a good deal comes along before BF, jump on it. Have it delivered as late as possible and leave it crated until the BF fliers come out. If you see something worth waiting in line for, return your unopened bargain.

Good luck!

[Gunnyman]

I'm wanting Plasma myself. 50 inches. Should I go ahead and score a 720p Panasonic from Costco for $1000? Or wait til BF and possibly score a 1080p model for the same price. Also, how about DLP? more screen for the money on those, but it seems only Samsung and Mitsubishi are making them anymore. Should I just forget DLP? Anyone think their prices will be any less on BF to get rid of them?

[len_mullen]

I'm wanting Plasma myself. 50 inches. Should I go ahead and score a 720p Panasonic from Costco for $1000? Or wait til BF and possibly score a 1080p model for the same price. Also, how about DLP? more screen for the money on those, but it seems only Samsung and Mitsubishi are making them anymore. Should I just forget DLP? Anyone think their prices will be any less on BF to get rid of them?

Let's start with the DLP -- because I hate DLP. Unless you have a TV viewing room with a seat dead center at precisely the right height and distance with excellent lighting, you will probably be disappointed. Go to one of the big boxers to see what I mean.

$1k for a 720p plasma does not sound great to me (I've seem on sale for that price quite a bit; if you had jumped on the BB deal and charged on a discover card, you have gotten free shipping and another 5% off), but it sounds like a good deal. I think you can do better if you wait. If you disagree, jump on it.

[jeffrey92]

I'm thinking about getting a 50" plasma on black friday. But... just out of curiosity... is it really worth it to go out there on friday? i mean do the prices actually go back up? do the prices drop even more by christmas?

[len_mullen]

I'm thinking about getting a 50" plasma on black friday. But... just out of curiosity... is it really worth it to go out there on friday? i mean do the prices actually go back up? do the prices drop even more by christmas?

I did not expect to get one on BF. I shop commodities on BF for the most part. I am particular about a TV so I wanted to shop then bite on the first good deal. It's late enough that you can return whatever good deal you find now if a better one comes along on BF. I wanted my tv (50" plasma) shipped, too.

[KrystalMae1231]

I just saw 37" Samsung Plasma at my WM here in Decatur illinois for 700.00

[bschmiess]

Don't know what BF will bring, but just went to Costco the other day to check out some tv's and they had some AWESOME DEALS! Vizio 42" plasma 720p $699 Westinghouse 42" lcd 1080p $699 Westinghouse 32" lcd 720p $399 That's all I can remember off the top of my head, but I figured those are the prices I might find on BF this year.

[kati30]

Can't wait..so excited

[j9k]

News stations this morning are reporting that Large Screen TV's are not selling (big surprise with the world economic crisis)...so expect price drops as large as 50% starting on Black Friday!!!

[3 boys]

That is MUSIC to my ears!!!!!!!!

[lesliepear]

Greetings:

This only applies to those in the NJ/NY market, but those wanting plasma/lcd tv's should be going to PC Richard & Son.

Last year, they ran the 42" Panasonic Plasma that Best Buy had for $899, for $699.
Also, they had the kdl40s300 for $799 on Black Friday; and when they couldn't fill all the orders by the end of the year, they gave out free upgrades to the kdl40v2500!

For those that don't know the company, they have 50 superstores in the region, and do everything in-house. Look for them to undercut BB and CC this year as well....
They don't run 5 hour sales, they do the sale all day and when they run out of the piece, they take orders on it still...

Got a bunch of tv's there last year......(They are currently running this years Pansonic for $649...th42px80u(in-store only)...who knows what black friday will bring...

~~Tech

PC Richard is on my list to check out - I purchased a 32" Samsung for a family member there recently and was impressed with their in store service, they took the time to take the TV out of the box and check it before I left. A small thing, but it saves a trip!

[lesliepear]

I do not subscribe to cable tv. I just bought a digital converter box so in Feb. 2009 I will still be able to receive on air television programs. If you dont care to pay for tv programming you can send away for a coupon for $40.00 discount on a converter box and pay like $13.00 to $22.00 for the box. Just an F.Y.I. if you don't care to buy a new TV. Good Luck.

If you have a converter box coupon already, Rite Aid has one on sale this week for 40.00. We paid 2.80 due to tax - if you live in a tax free state, it's free!

(At that price it might be worth getting as a spare in case the cable goes out).

[mistereman1]

Converter boxes are really cool. If your TV is s-video capable, look for a converter that is too. You will be very impressed with the picture your old TV is capable of with a set of rabbit ears and the converter!!

[wx4svr]

Converter boxes are really cool. If your TV is s-video capable, look for a converter that is too. You will be very impressed with the picture your old TV is capable of with a set of rabbit ears and the converter!!

I say skip the old TV... get a LCD or Plasma! JK. Just make sure your converter box is rated for your TV with respect to your connectivity. Also, don't be surprised if you have to get a new set of rabbit ears. I believe one expert said that if your rabbit ears are over 10 years old, go ahead and budget for a new set. For me though... I'm gonna stick with my Plasmas. lol. =)