Need a new tv for March Madness...suggestions?

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

Just got a Samsung 52" LCD. For me, it came down to Sony and Samsung. Saw them side-by-side and I just liked the Samsung's picture better. Make sure you get one with 120 hZ. That's the newest technology for a quality ACTION picture (basketball). Also, make sure ya go with LCD. Plasma is going to go the way of the Beta Max. Pioneer has already discontinued production of plasma.

Not exactly...they're no longer making the plasma panels but will be selling plasma TVs....buying the panels from someone else That market, like many others, is just consolodating to a few high volume manufacturers.

Plasma has a size advantage....no LCDs come in some of the larger sizes that Plasma does.

That said, when there are both to be had at the size you're looking at, I'd probably go with LCD. THey're a lot lighter, use much less power, and run much cooler. They also don't suffer from burn-in....the picture stays the same from the day you buy it...plasma can get burnin.

One point to really take note of is the black level of LCDs. That is one of their biggest weaknesses. How black is black? Is it really grey? In a showroom it might be hard to tell but in a darkened home, a dark night sceen might seem like times square (...exaggerated a bit...).


As for brands, avoid the cheapies....they cut a lot of corners. Two co-workers have Vizio's and they're cheap...but not great. Seemed to be working OK but when he latered tried an HDMI input, it had red lines all over. He tried it on other Vizio's and got the same result. He tried the same source on other brands and had no problems. Maybe an odd incompatibility but I'd bet that Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, et. at. don't have those problems nearly as much...doing more compatibility testing than the small guys have the budget to do.

[BktBallRef]

I bought the 52" Sharp Aquous LCD 1080P. I looked before Thanksgiving and they were $3199. The day after Thanksgiving, $2199 @ Circuit City. Knock off another $300 for Directv signup and I was looking good. Even so, a friend found the same TV on the dame day at the PX for $1599, Unfortunately, I didn't have that advantage but I'm still happy with my purchase. For me, Sharp products are as good as anything on the market. I'm looking at buying a Sharp Blu-Ray player this weekend.

LCD > Plasma, although Plasma is cheaper. The biggest difference for me is that there's no screen reflection with LCD. With the glass plasma screen, every light that hits the panel is reflected back at you. As Cameron said, you'll want to compare contrast numbers, because you want black blacks, not gray blacks.

Don't screw around with RCA or S-video cables. Go HDMI, It has the highest quality video and includes audio. But don't get ripped off! Sam's Club has 6' HDMI cables for less than $20. If you go anywhere that I know of, you'll pays $35 to $85.

Check with your cable or satellite dealer and see what HD packages they have. Directv has almost 100 channels and they're great! They're still working on audio sync with some channels but it's usually minimal. Time-Warner cable here SUCKS! They have less than a dozen HD channels. So going to satellite was no problem for me.

Finally, if you're gonna spend the money on a TV, buy quality. Don't screw around with looking for cheap. Get what you pay for.

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

For me, Sharp products are as good as anything on the market. I'm looking at buying a Sharp Blu-Ray player this weekend.

You could probably find some great deals on HD-DVD players.

[a4caster]

I've worked with TV's a few years during college. One thing I really know (and there is not much else I know anything about) is that the brand matters. And for electronics, buy Panasonic. I know it costs a lot more, but in the end, it will last longer and have less problems. I can't tell you how many TV's we junked that were only a few years old because of bad circuitry.
As far as an HD, we bought a 42" and really impressed by it. When CBS shows a game or two in HD, it is an eye-opening experience. Good sound and graphics. As far as 1080p, don't get sidetracked about that if all you have is over the air or cable. The only way you will benefit from 1080p is blue-ray or xbox. Even then, not a big difference. You might check into 720p for sports; it does have a more rapid update rate.
Hope this helps.

[DonInKansas]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Don't screw around with RCA or S-video cables. Go HDMI, It has the highest quality video and includes audio. But don't get ripped off! Sam's Club has 6' HDMI cables for less than $20. If you go anywhere that I know of, you'll pays $35 to $85.

Any HDMI cable 6' or less will show NO difference brand to brand; it's the longer ones where it matters. I picked up a pair of 6' HDMI cable for my new Vizio 42" off Ebay for 12 bucks and they work great.

[LoveBasketball]

Originally Posted by DonInKansas

Any HDMI cable 6' or less will show NO difference brand to brand; it's the longer ones where it matters. I picked up a pair of 6' HDMI cable for my new Vizio 42" off Ebay for 12 bucks and they work great.

Someone else mentioned a compatibility problem with Vizio TVs and the HDMI cables... have you had that problem too?? These are definitely things I need to consider if I am going to get a lesser-renowned brand like Vizio. I have heard it is a good TV but I don't want red lines across the screen!

Thanks.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by LoveBasketball

Someone else mentioned a compatibility problem with Vizio TVs and the HDMI cables... have you had that problem too?? These are definitely things I need to consider if I am going to get a lesser-renowned brand like Vizio. I have heard it is a good TV but I don't want red lines across the screen!

Thanks.

Samsung.................

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by fullor30

Samsung.................

Yeah, I heard Sam sing too. He was great.

[SDRef]

Just because a TV 'looks better' in the showroom doesn't mean it has a better picture. The TV's in the big line at the store are all cranked way too high on brightness and are way too blue. Buy the best technology you can afford and spend the money to have your TV professionally calibrated.

A $2K TV can look worse than a $1K TV in the store, but calibrate them both to the correct brightness temperature, and the better technology wins every time....

[26 Year Gap]

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by LoveBasketball

Someone else mentioned a compatibility problem with Vizio TVs and the HDMI cables... have you had that problem too?? These are definitely things I need to consider if I am going to get a lesser-renowned brand like Vizio. I have heard it is a good TV but I don't want red lines across the screen!

Thanks.

I'm the one that mentioned the incompatibility possibility. Just today, my coworker who is having the problem gave me some more info on the issue.

Looks like the primary culprit in the problem may not be the TV itself. He (a tinkering engineer and his father is a TV repairman) found an issue with the source...the makers of the source cut some corners by not properly grounding the ground pins on the HDMI output jack and it is causing the picture problems.

What that means for the TV is that it will probably work fine more most sources but for a few that cut corners, it might show similar intolerances....picking up interference that corrupts the picture. I'd say that the liklihood of you having the same problem (now that he's figured out the cause) is pretty low. His source was a shuttle PC used for home threater.

[tomegun]

I just got my new TV today. I didn't really get it for march madness though. i got a 52" Samsung LCD with 120hz motion which is supposed to make sports and action smoother. We chose Samsung over Sony because we have a Samsung LCD in another room and it works great.

I also got a Logitech Harmony One remote. I got it all set up but my wife was watching something on DVR so I couldn't check it out completely.

The new TV looks a lot better, sitting on my new entertainment console/table than my Sony big screen did. I don't know why everyone at work thinks my wife is the only one responsible for the decorating in my house.