Plasma TV

[Sean of the Thread]

I'm looking to buy one this weekend.

Anyone have personal preferences/experience on any? I know the ponzz just got one .. how did it work out?

[Doughboy]

About time you're moving into the modern age. Just make sure it's HD compatible. And get the right cable box from your provider.

[Stunseed]

I'd also look into a warrantee covering bulbs. Depending on the model, that shit gets crazy expensive. Most warrantees cover 1/2 bulbs, which is the cost of the warranty.

[Doughboy]

Ugh yeah, bulbs. I had mine blow once. Replaced it myself. Bulb was like 200 bucks.

Edited to add: Don't go out and just look at "plasma" tv's. Everybody got all caught up on that plasma word for some reason. Mine isn't a plasma but has a better picture than any plasma I've ever seen. It's the fucking shit.

[Skeeter]

<3 my plasma

[Sean of the Thread]

I've been riding my 52" hitachi forever.. it's been great for a projection but it's really starting to show it's age only recently.


Hit the lotto today so it's time to upgrade and put the hitachi in the girls room.


I haven't started the research yet other than asking here but PLASMAS HAVE BULBS??

[Stunseed]

In case I'm totally talking out of my ass....

Plasma's boast a higher responce time, giving it a huge advantage in action movies, live sports....

Plasma TV's have a few downsides. A bulb/shelf life, usually ( roughly ) 10k hours. Plasma also has issues with image burn.

[Stunseed]

LCD's are a more respectable purchase, in the fact their life is not limited with a bulb, however....

Since you live in Florida, outages are an LCD's worst friend. LCD's also have alot more individual pixel issues in comparison to a plasma.

In both cases, a consumer's warranty will offer on-site service on a size as big as you're looking for that prolly covers bulbs/pixel repair.

[Sean of the Thread]

All my equipment is on a UPS at all times. In TAMPA it's a must... lighting capital and all.

I think I need to look into the right warranty like you said.


How about models now? Who has what?

[Stunseed]

Take time to do research into offset/renamed brands.

Many major brands create small names to get more product out. For instance, Olevia is a Phillips sub-product that sells in many middle-range retail stores. Get a decent name for a decent price, and some such.

For what you're looking for, though I'd mainly stick to full brands. Hitachi, Sony, Mitsubishi, etc etc. Magnavox for all its worth as a name brands has had HORRIBLE reviews, so I'd stay away from that one.

[TheEschaton]

My parents rock Panasonic plasmas in their place. From what I can figure out, they seem okay. But I've only been to their place a couple of times since they moved there.

[The Ponzzz]

Love mine. Panasonic all the way! Grab an extended warranty if you can and get yourself a nice one. I was going to get the 50" but after getting the 42", 50 is waaaaay to big, atleast for my living area.

I'd stick with 1080i/p as well. If you go 720p for price, then you should just save up a bit more. My opinion of course.

[Gan]

Why plasma?

Ugh.

Image burn, bulb replacement, weight, heat.... the negatives go on and on and on.

LCD all the way.

[Shifted]

Just ordered a pair of Samsung 42" plasmas for the office, i'll let you know how they are.

Price wasn't bad at all considering all the specs we needed.


Why plasma?

Ugh.

Image burn, bulb replacement, weight, heat.... the negatives go on and on and on.

LCD all the way.

LCD is nice and all, but the price gets up there for the bigger models.

[TheEschaton]

If you get image burn on your plasma, you're just being plain retarded.

[Sean of the Thread]

I know nothing much about either. Gonna spend a week researching before I start shopping for models.. leaning towards lcd right now.

[Anebriated]

Vizio LCD's = <3. Honestly they have the best quality of any TV I have seen. My brother picked up a smaller one for his dorm room and the picture was great, figured it just looked good on smaller models but then my buddy got a 52" and it looks just as crisp. Great TV's.

[TheEschaton]

Yeah, my roommate and I have a 42" Vizio HD LCD, it's awesome.

[Bobmuhthol]

Plasma TVs have a 30-60 thousand hour half-life. CRTs have about a 25 thousand hour half-life. You'll definitely get a new TV before your plasma hits 50% brightness anyway.

<<Image burn, bulb replacement, weight, heat.... the negatives go on and on and on.>>

Image burn is only a real concern if you display a still image for extended periods at this point, and it's not a flaw exclusive to plasma screens. LCDs have to produce light just like plasma TVs, and replacing an LCD backlight is worse than just buying a new TV. If weight and heat are problems for you, I don't want to know what you're doing with your TV.

That said, I would recommend high-end LCD models, but plasma has unquestionable advantages as well.

[Gan]

If weight and heat are problems for you, I don't want to know what you're doing with your TV.

Weight is a huge issue if you're going to wall mount or have the TV stand mounted where a toddler/child can pull it down. Or if you plan on moving it around any.

Heat is an issue if you plan on having other electrical components around the same location, or enclosed in a cabinet. Additionally if you plan on having the unit in a small room then it can and will adversely affect the ambient temperature. Add people to that and you'll definately notice.

The customers I sold and installed plasma units in their control rooms treated me like a god when I swapped out their plasma large screens for LCD's. We did a laser temp reading and pulled over 103 degrees coming off the back of the plasma unit. Add 3 people with 2 42" plasma wall mounted displays into a small office and it they had to run additional HVAC duct work so they could pipe more chilled air into the office to keep the temperature workable.

That being said, screen burn, while still an issue, is a relatively small one for normal TV use. Its when you're using it as a display unit for software systems that it really comes into being an issue.

I have a phillips LCD 37" and I love it. Eventually everything in my home will be replaced to an LCD.

[Doughboy]

I love my LCD dude. Sony Grand Wega KDF-50WF655 (I'm like 95% sure thats my model number). I would recommend that thing to anybody. If I remember right it was a little on the pricey side, but it has by far the best picture out of any TV I've ever seen. But yeah man, you get a little more lightning than I do up there in Tampa. I get plenty down here. I learned the hard way about my lamp in mine. My UPC battery was dead for some reason and we got hit with a bunch of power surges during a storm. Fried the shit out of the lamp. The good part about that sony is how fucking easy it is to swap the lamps out. Two allen screws and one screw that you take out with a dime or a penny. Done just that easy.


http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d55/Doughboy1501/boobtube1.jpg


Looking at that makes me realize more and more how much I need to drop that top shelf down so those wires aren't visible...

[Sean of the Thread]

I like the tile.

[Gan]

1976 called, they want their armoir/entertainment center back.


http://www.peacesymbol.org/myspace/peace_symbol_6_l.gif

[Doughboy]

1976 called, they want their armoir/entertainment center back.


http://www.peacesymbol.org/myspace/peace_symbol_6_l.gif


Matches the room... :P

[Doughboy]

I like the tile.

Tile > carpet for ease of clean up. The entire house is tiled except for the bedrooms. And I'm changing the kids bedroom out to hardwood soon.

[Gan]

Matches the room... :P

:lol:

Groovy man.

:hippie:

[Doughboy]

:lol:

Groovy man.

:hippie:

You live in Houston, you lose by default.

[Sean of the Thread]

Tile > carpet for ease of clean up. The entire house is tiled except for the bedrooms. And I'm changing the kids bedroom out to hardwood soon.

Same here.. all but 2 rooms.


<3 tile.

[Doughboy]

Same here.. all but 2 rooms.


<3 tile.

<insert sexual innuendo here about tile flooring>

[Parkbandit]

All my equipment is on a UPS at all times. In TAMPA it's a must... lighting capital and all.

I think I need to look into the right warranty like you said.


How about models now? Who has what?

This is what I did:

I went to Best Buy and Circuit City and looked at all the TVs. It's a real individual preference.

Then I took my top 2-3 models and did some research on Nextag.com. Found my model and a recommended site.. and saved over $1000.

[Doughboy]

This is what I did:

I went to Best Buy and Circuit City and looked at all the TVs. It's a real individual preference.

Then I took my top 2-3 models and did some research on Nextag.com. Found my model and a recommended site.. and saved over $1000.

Old people don't have cool toys, stop your fibbing.

[The Ponzzz]

My friend told me, "Plasma is a dead end tech, go LCD!"

So when I went to do my research on both the LCDs and the plasmas, the one thing that bothered me the most was the glare. On the LCD, if any light touched it, I couldn't see the image. Granted this was off the ones in the store, the floor models.

The only other thing that was bothering me was the colors weren't as dark/rich as the plasma. I'm sure there is a setting to fix that.

As for burnt images on the screen, that can be easily fixed by displaying a "snowy" station for awhile to clean it up. The only thing you would have to worry about burning an image into the screen is something that's displayed on the screen for hours. This was a concern for me because I watch a lot of ESPN and play a few games that have constant scroll bars on the screen. But I heard its rare to happen.

Heat, yea, they are effing hot. Going to save me some money this winter.

Oh and the LCDs once you hit 50" are really fucking expensive.

[Doughboy]

My friend told me, "Plasma is a dead end tech, go LCD!"

So when I went to do my research on both the LCDs and the plasmas, the one thing that bothered me the most was the glare. On the LCD, if any light touched it, I couldn't see the image. Granted this was off the ones in the store, the floor models.

The only other thing that was bothering me was the colors weren't as dark/rich as the plasma. I'm sure there is a setting to fix that.

As for burnt images on the screen, that can be easily fixed by displaying a "snowy" station for awhile to clean it up. The only thing you would have to worry about burning an image into the screen is something that's displayed on the screen for hours. This was a concern for me because I watch a lot of ESPN and play a few games that have constant scroll bars on the screen. But I heard its rare to happen.

Heat, yea, they are effing hot. Going to save me some money this winter.

Oh and the LCDs once you hit 50" are really fucking expensive.

I dunno man, my LCD has this like no glare screen. I've got a big fluorescent light in my kitchen and it doesn't glare at all off the tube. Obviously you get some, but it's not like any other regular tv. As far as the colors go, yeah you can edit all that shit you whatever it is you like. But that will vary from brand to brand etc etc...

[The Ponzzz]

Oh I'm sure. I ALMOST bought the LCD too! I'm happy with what I got. In 5-10 years when I'm buying a new TV, I'll get what's hot then.

[Shifted]

Tile > carpet for ease of clean up. The entire house is tiled except for the bedrooms. And I'm changing the kids bedroom out to hardwood soon.

Marble all the way.
I usually lay out a few rugs in the winter time so i don't freeze my feet when i get outta bed, though.

[Gan]

You live in Houston, you lose by default.

LOL

Says the stooge who lives in Miami.

[Parkbandit]

Old people don't have cool toys, stop your fibbing.


Old people have all the cool toys :)

[Parkbandit]

I dunno man, my LCD has this like no glare screen. I've got a big fluorescent light in my kitchen and it doesn't glare at all off the tube. Obviously you get some, but it's not like any other regular tv. As far as the colors go, yeah you can edit all that shit you whatever it is you like. But that will vary from brand to brand etc etc...


I don't know.. I have a 62" LCD and a 42" Plasma... and my plasma screen is much clearer. To get the best picture from the LCD, I have to sit in the middle of the couch. If I sit on the floor, the pic is too dark. My plasma has great view from all angles.

[Sean of the Thread]

I don't know.. I have a 62" LCD and a 42" Plasma... and my plasma screen is much clearer. To get the best picture from the LCD, I have to sit in the middle of the couch. If I sit on the floor, the pic is too dark. My plasma has great view from all angles.

I can see sitting on the floor causing problems with the LCD. My sisters plasma I can sit anywhere and it looks great.


My question is how does it look from your bed pan? Thinking about buying my grandfather one for bonus estate points and wanted your input.

[Gambler010]

Opinions for buying a TV are different with everyone. I personally HATE LCDs simply because, I like to sit on the floor while watching TV. With LCD's the image is horrible from that view point. If you have a LCD, you have to be watching from the height of the TV whereas you can be watching from any angle with a Plasma, and still get a great image. I recommend a Flat-Panel Plasma Samsung, they are stylish, and have a better picture than any of their competition.

[Parkbandit]

I can see sitting on the floor causing problems with the LCD. My sisters plasma I can sit anywhere and it looks great.


My question is how does it look from your bed pan? Thinking about buying my grandfather one for bonus estate points and wanted your input.

STOP INSULTING ME! I NEVER INSULT PEOPLE! WAAAA.

[Gan]

You know why a plasma looks great from the floor?

Because after you finish paying out the ass for one, you cant afford any other furniture.

:lol:

[senorgordoburro]

I don't really feel like reading this whole thread, so I don't know if I'm just kicking a dead horse or not, but...

If you want to get your money's worth on an HD TV then you will need to make sure you have an HD signal from whoever your provider is, an HD box, HD component cables, and then of course an HD TV. Your picture will only be as good as the lowest maximum resolution of all of those different pieces. I don't think that makes sense, but basically if you spend 3,000 on an HD TV but only 10 bucks on basic component cables, your not gonna be getting an HD picture.

Good luck on the purchase though and let us know what you end up getting.

[The Ponzzz]

Oh yea, get yourself some HDMI cables. Monster is a good brand to stick with. Mine were 99 a pop, bought one for the home theater system and one for the digital cable. However, I got a set of the cheap ones for free with my home theater and I HONESTLY could not see a difference. I'm sure its there.

[Drew]

Buy an LCD.

[Ignot]

I think everyone covered it pretty well. Plasma TV's are pretty cheap right now b/c everyone is buying LCD's. I personally like the LCD's better. Either way, it's not the type of purchase you want to be cheap with. You pay for what you get and quality is important. I think Sony is the best, we ended up getting a Samsung LCD and it is amazing. Good luck.