HDTV, help me decide

[snoozebutton]

We were looking at TVs and the two we saw with the best picture in our budget were these two.

Polaroid 47" LCD, 1080p, contrast ratio 1,000 to 1, $1398.

Sanyo 50" Plasma, 720p, contrast ratio 10,000 to 1, $1294.

First of all, what's contrast ratio? And has anyone had any problems with either of these sets? Another one was a Samsung 46" LCD, 1080p ($1999). Would that one be worth the extra money?

We really liked the picture on the Polaroid but didn't even know they made TVs and I heard that Plasma is better for watching sports which I watch a lot of. BTW, we don't do any gaming so it's almost entirely for watching sports, Discovery, The History Channel, movies.......

Thanks!!!

[Meaney]

I dont know much about hdtv's.. so I dont want to give advice on what to get. But, I do own a 50 inch panasonic plasma tv and will highly recommend this tv. I got a great deal on my tv, only paid 1200.00 for it at sears, but couldnt tell you if it that price or lower now. Good luck

[bassNspear]

Samsung 46" LCD, 1080p ($1999

AWESOME. I know alot of people that were happy with theres and had nothing wrong. I have the 42 and love it.

[SomethingFishy*]

If you are going to spend aroun $2000 I personally would buy a Sharp Aquos in your size preference, great tv's I know several friends that own them. Either 720P or 1080P look fantastic. Samsung and Panasonic also make good tv's.

[Coach Dog]

I would go with that Samsung 1080. You'll be happy you spent the extra dough. Like most things, you get what you pay for, and tv's are no different. A good friend of mine has his own home theater install business and his customers are typically the wealthy and he also does quite a bit of commercial business for bars and restaurants. Anyway, he claims that the Pioneer is the best followed by Panasonic and then the better Samsung's. Some of the Sony's are decent, but the rest are pretty much all the same, but not nearly are good. He stays away from the LG, Sanyo, etc. as the picture isn't as good and the tv's do not hold up as well. If they go bad under warrantee, it is his responsibilty to service them.

I do not claim to be an expert, but I think he is what you would call an expert, so take this information for what it is worth.

Coach Dog

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Getting all comfy cozy with my new Samsung 56" DLP 1080p for $1499 but that included a free X Box 360 game with two games valued at $360 which I sold for $300, making my final price for the TV $1200.

Tommy Likey!

Windy

[snoozebutton]

Quote:

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I dont know much about hdtv's.. so I dont want to give advice on what to get. But, I do own a 50 inch panasonic plasma tv and will highly recommend this tv. I got a great deal on my tv, only paid 1200.00 for it at sears, but couldnt tell you if it that price or lower now. Good luck

---

Probably the same one we ended up getting, 50" Panasonic Plasma. Side by side with 4 others, it was the best picture we thought. The price was a little higher though, $1700 but they knocked $100 off a Blu Ray DVD and another $100 off deliery and set-up plus they threw in an HDMI cable and we got 10 free Blu Ray moies.

Thanks for all the replies guys!!!

[Meaney]

haha no prob

[edgeucator]

i was looking at flat screen hd tvs and a sales associate asked if i was set on this one particular tv i said no, he said he had a last year model 37" for $270, it was hd, and digital i couldnt believe it, he said most places if you ask they get returns or last year models that are way under price and they still have warrantys on them.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Edge,

You should shy away from 720's. They are OK for now but will look bad in a few years. I got my 56" Samsung DLP with 1080p for less because it was last years model. The new ones are running about $600 more than I paid. Be sure to go 1080 with thoughts of the future.

Windy

[Paul]

I am in the TV buisness. I am a Satellite TV Technician and Home Theatre Guru. I am recomending you get a 1080P television for numerous reasons. #1) all HD will eventually go there. #2) all BLue Ray and HD DVD palyers transmit in 1080P. #3.) Why SPend all that money and then realize that in a few years as things change you should have bought the 1080P.

I would personally look at the Panasonic, Pioneer, or Toshiba Brands. Samssung is OK but the remotes are funny if you go with Digital cable or Satellite TV.

I realize that some times the budget makes the decision for your but keep in mind that if you underbudget your TV and your not happy you just wasted $1000, when you could have waited a few more months, and got a $1500-$2000 TV.

PS, Try and Stay away from the big box retailers. YOu will get better customer service and a better price in the long run with the little guy.

Hope this helps.

[Paul]

Another After thought on the big box retailers.

If you have several TV's all sitting on a shelf, they are all sharing an amplified signal that has been split several times.

A person can go into the picture settings menu and change the look of the TV. So if they had an excess stock of one brand or was making more cash on one brand, Don't you think they would take the neigboring TV and make sublte changes in the picture to make the target TV look better than the others, IT is Easy to do. One of the main things we do to every new TV we deal with is immedialty turn down the contrast and get pciutre off of Vivid display. This over inflates the picture and makes it look blocky. A few adjustments can make the big difference in between you TV looking average, and your TV looking superb.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Paul,

I would have to take exception to your aversion to Big Box stores. I have always had decent luck with Best Buy. I have had three big screens and three computers in my life and they have always serviced them when necessary.

My last purchase was the 56" Samsung DLP Slim Box and I got it for $1499 which came with a free XBox 360 game unit, two games and the Sing Along microphones valued at $360 and interest free financing for 18 months to boot. I sold the game for $300 so that took the TV price down to $1200 for me. They also sold me a 4 year extended in home warranty for $240.

I bought it in November and have been surfing the sale papers and have not seen prices anywhere close to what I paid. I have also heard nothing but good things about the Samsung brand so I was a little surprised to see you promoting Panasonic and Toshiba over Samsung. Pioneer maybe but Toshiba and Panasonic?

Not trying to start a controversy, just trying to add a few ideas to the guys who have not plunked down their dinero yet on a set. We fully agree on the 1080p though!

Windy

[Paul]

Windy,

I don't want to bash any one store in particular, but I see probably 10-15 TV sets a day in customers homes. I can honstely tell you the one the people have the best luck with is Pioneer, Toshiba, Panasonic. Sony's have week remots and bad clarity, samsungs have promlems when it comes to universal remotes. Panosonics 1080P plasma was rated #1 by consumer reports, and best absolute televeision picture of them all is the 65" runco 1080P price tag around $12,000 w/o speakers. or inputs (all sold sepralty). But Hey only about .75% of the population can afford 12k for a moniter.

I am just going by personal experiance and nothing else. I do not sell TV's in my retail location very often so my buisness does not rely on TV Sales, so I have nothing to gain by steering people away from big box retail.

BTW if the TV is good, why get an extended warranty?

[Eckie]

4 year in home warranty for $240 = $5.00 per month. To me, paying five bucks a month is well worth it even if nothing ever goes wrong with the tv.

On the flip side, paying five bucks a month is also more than worth it if a problem ever does arise.

I think Samsung was rated very well in CR a month or two ago also. (not knocking the Pioneer's or Panasonic's, that also had high ratings).

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

That's what I thought too! A finsky each month is nothing for 4 more years of peace of mind, especially if one of these do dads go bad and I need somebody like Paul coming out to fix that bad boy. I'm cool with that but I think I got a pretty good deal that should last until the next new fad comes along, hologram tv maybe!!! LOL

On a side note, I have purchased an extended warranty on the last three vehicles I have bought (and I loved each one of them) and always got my money back plus when it came to repairs, especially around the 75,000 mile mark.

Extendeds are known universally as the highest money makers in a company but I have always seemed to make out ok with them.

Windy

[mamohr686]

I bought a new Toshiba regza 1080P LCD before christmas this year. I tried to get a decent price from a local retailer but they wouldn't even come close. I ended up getting it from buydig for $1380 with no tax and free FedEx shipping to my door. I figure with the amount I saved off the 1899.99 retail I can afford to have it fixed, and have enough money left over for a surround sound system. I would do it over again in a second, and it has a much better picture than my 50" Samsung Plasma.