Tell me about your fabulous HD-TVs

[Fiasco]

Here are some pitfalls of the various choices.

I wouldn't get plasma. Plasma's are susceptable to "burn in". If a graphic is stationary
on the screen for an extended period of time that graphic can become burned in to the screen. Video games can kill a Plasma in short order. Burn in is what you see on ATM CRT displays where words or text are visible on the screen even when not displayed. I visited my brother for christmas and he has a 40" plasma which he said got burned in with "Guitar Hero" within one day of the game being purchased... oops!

40" or lower don't be concerned w/ 1080p.

The downfall of LCD is the chance of "stuck" or "dead" pixels I have 1 dead pixel on my laptop. Fortunately it is stuck black (dead) and it's pratically invisible. Stuck hot hot pink and it would be a problem.

With DLP there is a very small chance that you or someone in your family will see a "rainbow" effect behind moving objects.

With any rear projection television there is a bulb with a finite life. My panasonic 60" LCD RPTV will turn 3 years old superbowl sunday and it is still on the original bulb.

As for extended warranties.

The majority of failures in electronics happen within a short time frame after purchase. For my projection LCD TV I did purchase an extended warranty because it gave me five years pretty much guarenteeing that I will get a free bulb replacement. For my LCD flat screen I did not because stuck or dead pixels will expose themselves pretty quickly.

What ever you technology you choose from whatever manufacturer... I'm sure you won't be able to stomach anything in standard definition with a week

 

[nidan]

Fisaco is right about that.

So far I've only made it to component video from DVD to new 46" Sony and wow. Picture is amazing.

When looking at models be very careful of model numbers and versions. The seem designed to confuse and they succeed. Is suspect the intention is to advertise high end capabilities and make you think you are getting them at lower end devices.

Read, read and read some more, don't buy until you understand.

 

[AZZenny]

I LOVE my Samsung 1080p 42 inch TV. Friends with a very good new HDTV -- not Samsung or Sony, forget the brand they have but it was a reputable one -- came out and were quite envious of mine. The color, the angle of vision, both were better on Samsung and Sony than any others, and Sony had no advantage and a higher price.

 

[nidan]

I looked at both and agree, could have gone either way Sony or Samsung

Just found a deal on the Sony

 

[SunDevilDon]

I looked at both and agree, could have gone either way Sony or Samsung

Just found a deal on the Sony

I didn't do any research for ya, but I recently purchased a 37" Olevia LCD for my bedroom, and I LOVE IT!!!

If you're looking for a 42", Samsung or Sony can't go wrong, but I'd give Olevia a looksee and actually, I've heard and seen that the 42" PANASONICS ROCK!!! Between those four, I'd look at prices and then decide, anything less, would be uncivilized.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Next set of questions from uneducated-in-the-area-of-TV-tech Jersey Girl:

1. I just read nidan's thread about Tivo and DVR and am confused. Currently I have a DVR from Cox. Should I purchase an HD DVR player when I get my new TV and tell Cox to screw off? Will I still have to pay a subscription fee to either Tivo or Cox if I buy my own DVR?

2. Am I correct that I will have to subscribe to Cox's monthly HD service in order to enjoy my new HD LCD TV?

I guess those are my only two current questions, but be sure to check back for more in the coming days.

 

[Fiasco]

Yes you will need an HD DVR. You can't get a High Def picture from a standard definition DVR.

Yes you will still have to pay a DVR monthly subscription fee for the service but if you own your own DVR you will not have to pay the monthly equipment rental.

Yes you have to subscribe to HD service.

 

[Darth Llama]

I have the Cox HD DVR and I like it. I haven't really priced HD DVR's, but I might consider buying one just so I don't have to rent this one. The advantage of the Cox one is that it's totally intigrated into your service. It's really easy to select something from the guide and que it up for recording. They say it holds 80 hours, but that's 80 hours of SD. It holds about 20 hours worth of HD content.

A guy I work with said you can find guides online that tell you how to plug an external USB Hard Drive into the Cox DVR and use it to transfer back and forth, I'm going to look into that next. I want to get all the Cardinal Games next season and save them to another hard drive. Then I can put them on my PC, cut out all the commercials and burn them to DVD's. Assuming of course that HD DVD Burners are common place by next football season.

 

[Covert Rain]

Here are some pitfalls of the various choices.

I wouldn't get plasma. Plasma's are susceptable to "burn in". If a graphic is stationary
on the screen for an extended period of time that graphic can become burned in to the screen. Video games can kill a Plasma in short order. Burn in is what you see on ATM CRT displays where words or text are visible on the screen even when not displayed. I visited my brother for christmas and he has a 40" plasma which he said got burned in with "Guitar Hero" within one day of the game being purchased... oops!

40" or lower don't be concerned w/ 1080p.

The downfall of LCD is the chance of "stuck" or "dead" pixels I have 1 dead pixel on my laptop. Fortunately it is stuck black (dead) and it's pratically invisible. Stuck hot hot pink and it would be a problem.

With DLP there is a very small chance that you or someone in your family will see a "rainbow" effect behind moving objects.

With any rear projection television there is a bulb with a finite life. My panasonic 60" LCD RPTV will turn 3 years old superbowl sunday and it is still on the original bulb.

As for extended warranties.

The majority of failures in electronics happen within a short time frame after purchase. For my projection LCD TV I did purchase an extended warranty because it gave me five years pretty much guarenteeing that I will get a free bulb replacement. For my LCD flat screen I did not because stuck or dead pixels will expose themselves pretty quickly.

What ever you technology you choose from whatever manufacturer... I'm sure you won't be able to stomach anything in standard definition with a week

Most new Plasmas do have some level of protections for Burn-in. If your video gameaholic though I am not sure anything can help from that type of burn in.

DLP rainbow effect is also a thing of the past. None of the new models that I know of are impacted by that anymore. It was only the first gen. My Mit's doesn't suffer from any rainbow effects at all.

Your right about there being no 1 great tech out there right now. They all have drawbacks. Just do your homework and decide which drawbacks bother you the least.

 

[Darth Llama]

I love the picture on Plasma TV's, I really do. When I was shopping around, I saw several plasma models that just had a beautiful screen. Since however, I was looking for a TV to play XBox360 on, and taking into account the limited lifespan of Plasma, I ultimately decided on LCD. I personally found LCD to be the best deal for the dollar, but to me, it's hard to go wrong with either LCD or DLP. I still think my TV (Vizio VW47LF) is the biggest steal I have seen. Looks every bit as good as my brothers Sony but was only $1400 for 47".

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I actually feel DLP/LCoS is a better bang for the buck than LCD. But they are pretty close.

 

[Duckjake]

As long as we're talking TVs anyone have a recommendation on a 42" or larger LCD for a room with lots of windows? We can barely see the picture on our SD Toshiba 36" during the daytime.

OT: it really cma that Directv charges extra for HD football games.

 

[Fiasco]

Most new Plasmas do have some level of protections for Burn-in. If your video gameaholic though I am not sure anything can help from that type of burn in.

DLP rainbow effect is also a thing of the past. None of the new models that I know of are impacted by that anymore. It was only the first gen. My Mit's doesn't suffer from any rainbow effects at all.

Your right about there being no 1 great tech out there right now. They all have drawbacks. Just do your homework and decide which drawbacks bother you the least.

New DLP models still suffer from rainbow effect. I'm not referring to the rainbow effect on older technology early models that basically anyone could see. It only affects a very small percentage of people but it effectively ruins the TV if you are one (or someone in your family) can see the effect.

Course, what do I know. I can't see it so how do I know it even exists!

 

[Shane]

As long as we're talking TVs anyone have a recommendation on a 42" or larger LCD for a room with lots of windows? We can barely see the picture on our SD Toshiba 36" during the daytime.

OT: it really cma that Directv charges extra for HD football games.

Hey Duck I just bought a 52 inch Sharp Aquos full 1080p HDTV and my living room has tons of big windows and hella glare. Its one of the reasons I ********** my other TV even though nothing was wrong with it.

It was installed this AM and and I must say I have ZERO glare problem now. The screen is fantastic and bright. I am happy as can be!

BTW if you buy one before the end of this weekend I believe you get the FREE Blu ray player to go with it just like I did. Cant beat that deal at all.

 

[azsouthendzone]

My friend's Samsung had its lamp burn out after less than a year today. He is pissed. I've owned two Samsung TV's that I bought at the same time and a DVD player in the past and they were all crap.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Thank you all for your input. Just ordered a Samsung 1080p 46" LCD. It will be installed in time for the Super Bowl. I am rather psyched!

 

[thirty-two]

Thank you all for your input. Just ordered a Samsung 1080p 46" LCD. It will be installed in time for the Super Bowl. I am rather psyched!

AWESOME!!!

 

[CatBoxBackFan]

Congrats,welcome to the world of HiDef

 

[Jersey Girl]

Congrats,welcome to the world of HiDef

Yeah, I hear there's no turning back.

 

[nidan]

No there isn't

 

[Mulli]

Holy MOLEY!! High Def ESPN is unreal.

(Just hooked mine up)

 

[abomb]

Holy MOLEY!! High Def ESPN is unreal.

(Just hooked mine up)

 

[Mulli]

It is so niiiice.

 

[abomb]

It is so niiiice.

You will get to the point where A) you only watch your HD channels and B) not go to people's house for viewing things if they dont have HD.

 

[CatBoxBackFan]

I'm at the A stage now and getting closer to B every day.