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Looking to buy a LCD TV


Psilocybin

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I'm in the market for an HDTV. My plan is to get an LCD 120hz in the high 40's to low 50's in size.

 

Other than Wal Mart and similar stores, I only have one true electronics store to find a TV in my hometown. They tend to run very high in price at said store. However, I went in just to see the Sony anti judder function. I will say I'm impressed with the Sony TV's I've seen.

 

I've also heard good things about Vizio. The Vizio's I've seen also looked good. I don't know if the Vizio's at Wal Mart had their anti judder function turned on or not. Its like pulling teeth to find an AV salesman at our local Wal Mart.

 

Are any of you guys/gals video junkies? If so would you say one of those makes is better than the other? Should I just buy the less expensive TV (more than likely the vizio)?

 

Have any of you purchased a TV online? Where from and was it a good experience?

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A buddy of mine is a PM for a company that builds test equipment for LCD screens. He said Sony or Samsung were the one's that he'd buy as they use the same screens. I've also heard a bit about the new LED LCD's I'd check those out as well. So basically, I got nothin' aside from, "A guy I know said....".

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If you're really looking for high quality at a low price, you'd be looking at plasma. If you want further clarification I'm happy to buy it, but I'm not going to rant about them if you just flat out want LCD. I also bought it online, but it's an east coast only company.

 

As mentioned, the LED LCD's are really nice, but also very expensive for the good ones. Sony and Samsung are really the only brands you should be looking at if you want quality LCD. Depending on the model, the Vizio can be meh/decent/good. Something tells me the walmart one isn't super awesome though.

 

Also, anti-judder makes things freaking weird looking and you probably won't use it.

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I bought a 120hz LCD and returned it a few months ago. I'm very happy with my plasma now. Also if you are in the market the LED sets are dropping rapidly in price and shouldn't be much more than an LCD now. I just picked up a 19" LED for 200 bucks and it's got a great picture (non-HD)

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Also, anti-judder makes things freaking weird looking and you probably won't use it.

 

 

 

I've heard that before too. Its my understanding that it works well in some circumstances and fails at others. The time I KNOW it was turned on in a store it really smoothed out the scene (a camera pan top view of some buildings in a city). I'm told thats the kind of thing it does well with.

 

Edit 1

 

Why plasma? I was checking on amazon and it seems Sony does not make plasma anymore. I did find Samsung in plasma. I have not seen a LCD made by Sony, Samsung, or Vizio that I thought had a bad picture.

 

Edit 2

 

I just checked out this Plasma vs LCD article and have a little better idea. While the image burn in isn't as big of a deal as it used to be, I do plan on playing video games on my new HD tv. That could possibly be an issue with plasma.

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I bought two 37" Samsung 120hz tv's and a smaller 22" 60hz recently. The picture quality is second to none, of any tv I looked at. One of the 37" tv's had a power supply failure after about four months, but Samsung really was Genz Benz good with the customer service, and the fix took the repair guy less than 5 minutes. I asked him what are the better brands, and what he said was that they make their living repairing Samsung's, and Sony's not far behind. He told me he thought Sharp were the most reliable. Take that for what it's worth, the opinion of a repair guy. As it is, I am super happy with the Samsungs, and still haven't seen a better picture quality.

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i bought an LG- LCD tv last october that I like. My guitar player works at at an appliance store and according to him LG makes screens for all the other brands.

 

 

I've seen so many LG tv's in hotel rooms with screwed up screens I would never consider buying one. They all get this weird red contrast problem, hard to describe but the color and contrast gets way out of wack. I can't even count how many LG's I've seen with the same problem.

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I've seen so many LG tv's in hotel rooms with screwed up screens I would never consider buying one. They all get this weird red contrast problem, hard to describe but the color and contrast gets way out of wack. I can't even count how many LG's I've seen with the same problem.

 

 

Good to know.

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Some of LG's sets aren't bad, but for what the decent ones cost, you're better off getting a Samsung on sale. What is your budget and size requirement, btw?

 

 

Edit 2


I just checked out this
article and have a little better idea. While the image burn in isn't as big of a deal as it used to be, I do plan on playing video games on my new HD tv. That could possibly be an issue with plasma.

 

 

Burn in is pretty much a non-issue. I watch sports for 10 hours every sunday and have not even seen a slight retention. I play madden (which is the worst for burn in problems) among other games, and again, nothing. Don't believe the burn in hype. As long as you don't have your brightness cranked to ridiculous levels and leave something paused for days, you'll be fine. Seriously.

 

Also, with games and sports, there is no issue with ghosting. 60/120/240hz be damned, it's a non-issue with plasma.

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Thanks for the info. :thu:

 

I was one of those people who just heard the negative plasma myths at the time I made my first post. I've been doing a lot of reading since then and think plasma will be the way I go :evil:

 

I wonder how things will go if I buy one online. I always worry about {censored} like that. Its a rather large and fragile item and I see how freight can be treated on a daily basis at work. :eek:

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I wonder how things will go if I buy one online. I always worry about {censored} like that. Its a rather large and fragile item and I see how freight can be treated on a daily basis at work.
:eek:

 

Once you figure out what model you want in your price range and start researching places online, you can look up how their shipping is. AVSforums is a great, great resource. I know when I got mine it was strapped down and shrink wrapped on a pallet; the delivery guys carried it up and unloaded it for me. No problems.

 

There have been issues with some TV's being sent out from bad shipments, but as long as you don't sign for it, you're fine. There have been reports of companies being delivered large pallets with TV's stacked on top of each other laying flat. The glass is NOT meant for that kind of strain; these TV's are freaking HEAVY. The site I bought from I opted to paid cash on delivery (which even got me a discount), so I didn't have to worry about it showing up broken and being screwed. You can refuse delivery on any shipment, but you especially can when they don't have your money. :D

 

Have something ready to plug into it for testing purposes and check for dead pixels. With it off, comb over the top of the screen slowly with a flashlight; you'll be able to detect any cracks that way.

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I've been told by friends that plasma doesn't travel as well as LCD. If you're going to be moving a lot, a plasma may not be a good choice.

 

We just bought a multi-system 40" LCD, a Samsung. We got what I thought was a good deal for one that will work anywhere in the world, from a place called Sam's Store online. We paid through the nose for shipping though.

 

I am *loving* this television. I don't watch a lot of TV, and the one we had before this one is at least 15 years old. This new flatscreen thing ... wow. HD? Wow. My eyes hurt.

 

I think the quality of the Samsung is great, the picture is incredibly sharp, and 40" is good for us.

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I got a 42" proscan lcd, and it's worked fantastic. Though at first the picture wasn't all that great, after we had been using it for a couple days it crisped right up. Seems like it needs a "break in period" before you see the pic from the showroom. Haven't had any issues with mine. Also with plasma/lcd/led, look at heat and power consumption. These can be very different and in some places have a huge impact on your monthly power bill. I've seen some cases where it's been a $10 a month difference in power consumption. You may say big deal ten bucks, but if you were looking at the store at two different tv's and one had a manditory ten buck subscription would you take it?

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The stuff I've read says the opposite.
:idk:

 

Drunk posting ftl. :facepalm:

 

Correct, plasma is indeed better because it isn't a projected lightsource located on the top of a pixel. Modern middle-high end LCD's sport around the same viewing angle though. It's not really something worth noting imo, unless you watch your tv 170' to the side

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