What are your ideas on flat screen TVs? Models and reasons please.

[Jim O'Dell]

Thanks for the great info so far. Brian, which model Sony did you get?
Larry, the problem with LG, besides the reports of units burning up in the last 6-8 months, is my perception of the company. If my information is correct, they used to be Goldstar. I never heard of a single piece of adequate equipment that they made. Now, companies change, sometimes for the better and they may be one of them. But problems stick with me for a long time. Like I would never purchase a Sharp VHS player from back when I sold audio/video. We had 3 models of Sharp units at one time, named Jaws 1, Jaws 2, and Jaws 3....they had an insatiable taste for tapes. It's an internal problem with my brain, but I have to live with it!! Oh, and I hadn't heard that about Sony. They are high on my list because of the great luck I've had with two previous Sony TVs. Some food for thought, though.
Bill, my A/V receiver up-converts to 1080. Do I need it? Probably not, but I want a 46" minimum and we will be sitting about 18' away from the screen.
Paul, all local vendors will get a shot at this. Frys pricing online seems way out of line on the few models I've looked up. But will even venture over there as part of the process. Oh and the new avatar is our new show pup. 14 weeks old now. Jadestar Stetson, aka Ryder. It was the breeders "S" litter and a western theme. He's a hoot! So much personality. We also kept our first Rescue out of about 180 that have come through our house in the last 10 years. He looks like a setter, but is solid black. Very laid back. Lets the pup grab him and inflict damage and never retaliates with same. They are best buds. I'll put a picture up sometime with the two of them. He's probably an Irish Setter/Gordon Setter mix. About 5 months old.
Steve, good to know how Best Buy handles customers.
Joe, very good information. One that I will follow. I used to sell speakers the same way. Listen to them and pick the ones that sound the best, because that's what you will listen to for years and years to come. My speakers are 34 years old, and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to them.
Ben, the power consumption of the Plasma is an issue. With the extra consumption comes higher temps as well. But is there enough difference in the viewing angle to warrant the difference? Looking at the different units will make that decision.
Thanks again for the info. Always looking for more too. Jim.

[dennis thompson]

I have the Panasonic Viera & am very happy with it. You might want to look at Costco when I bought mine a few years ago they extended the manufacturers warranty (I think it's for two years).
Dennis

[Larry Browning]

I somehow thought that LG was a rebranding of Curtis-Mathis. But after looking it up, I found out that they indeed did start out as Goldstar, and in 1998 were renamed LG and at the same time acquired Zenith. My suspicion is that the current LG TV's are Zenith based technology. Whatever that means

I went to NPR looking for that story on Sony and found that there was a new story today about them cutting 10,000 jobs!
Here is the link to the story http://www.npr.org/2012/04/12/150474...company-around
Listen to the story to get all the details. Things are not looking too good for Sony.

[Van Huskey]

Although I like to talk about A/V more than bandsaws recomendations are pretty simple. Low ambient light room get plasma, high ambient light get LCD. For plasma shop Panasonic and for LCD get Samsung. We have Panny plasma panels in all the bedrooms and a Sammy LCD in the great room all of which have been excellent from day one.

[Randal Stevenson]

I picked up a Sharp 32" (smaller home, don't want the tv sticking in front of the windows) lcd for my house. It was old stock and cheaper ($200 before tax), and to me the speakers sounded much better then the thinner led tv's. (didn't think I would find a deal on the home stereo as quick as I did) I don't watch the sporting stuff that they say you need the faster 120 hertz or better refresh rate for. I don't watch a lot of tv, as it is mostly a waste, but do want the ability to watch some concert or other dvd's, as well as the possibility to use it with a computer. My mom wanted a new tv after their old one died, and she didn't have the patience to wait for a bargain. (has to watch her programs) We went over all the options and how the plasma didn't have the hertz issue, but didn't look as good in a bright room (her room only has one small window and is huge room), so the price point verses features made plasma her choice (half price of the led's). The only thing that she doesn't like about it, all plasma's have, which is heat issues. (better have a/c in the house)

As to brands, etc. I am not going to give any recommendations, because one brand can have good models verses bad and appearances and sound quality are per tv. I also don't think that tv's are going to last as long as they used to, but that is just personal opinion.

[Charlie Gummer]

We bought a 7000 series Samsung LED backlit LCD when my rear projection Sony gave up. We're thrilled with the build quality and picture quality is phenomenal. The built-in software / apps are quite nice. The only 'gripe' I have is that we bought right before the line included wifi connections built in to the sets; we have to have the TV hard-wired to our router. For us this isn't a problem as our cable modem and router are right next to the TV but your situation may differ.

Samsung uses a program called AllShare to allow streaming of content from computers/smartphones to the TV. Besides a somewhat clunky interface the program does what it's supposed to. We haven't had any issue streaming 720P HD video over a wireless G connection but 1080P definitely requires either a hard-wired connection or wireless N. We have a wireless N router but some of our computers only have G network cards.

[Jim Becker]

I happen to like Sharp Aquos when it comes to flat screens...I have two and would buy another without regret.

[Joe Pelonio]

Ben, the power consumption of the Plasma is an issue. With the extra consumption comes higher temps as well. But is there enough difference in the viewing angle to warrant the difference? Looking at the different units will make that decision.

That's something I tested after reading this. After the LED TV was on a couple of hours i felt with my hand all over and feel no heat whatsoever. Also, we can watch it from any angle and no difference in the picture. It also has settings for bright or dim light conditions in the room.

[Greg Peterson]

I have a Mitsubishi 60" DLP. I am very happy with the picture quality. And as for cost, the DLP sets give you most screen for the buck.

[Jim O'Dell]

But there is the depth problem with a DLP. I didn't state this, but I do want to wall mount the TV. I have a friend with a DLP and it was very nice. Jim.

[Wil Limanen]

Another vote for the viera. Bought a 50" plasma almost 5 years ago. No complaints.

Wil

[Ron Natalie]

One of my coworkers did the hillbilly (I mean, appalachian american) thing with his 60" DLP. He cut a hole in the wall so the back end was in the closet of the adjacent room.

[Jim O'Dell]

Unfortunately, won't work with a brick wall!! I don't think.......Jim.

[Kevin W Johnson]

We have a 4 yr old Sony 52", a 3yr old 26" Vizio, and a 1 1/2 yr old 42" Vizio, all of which are LCD. So far, so good. The two larger units came from Costco.

[Jim O'Dell]

Just got back from doing the visual test at Best Buy and Sears. Neither had the Sony model I was looking at, but I had pretty much decided feature wise that the Samsung was what I would prefer as long as the picture was going to be equal. The lower model Sony did look very nice, but not better than the Samsung unit. LOML finally relented and said I could get the 55" unit and mentioned that it is less than the new show puppy she (we) just purchased.
(But he is really cute. Ryder 4.7.12.jpg )
So I just placed the order for it. Samsung UN55D7000 for 1549.00. I heard of a great deal on the 8000 model of the same size TV, but the poster never came back with where his friend purchased it from. It would have been 100.00 more, but would have had 2 of the 3D glasses as well as being an upgrade in features. But I loved the way this one looked in person, so I think I'll be a happy camper. Now to wait to see how long it takes to get it here. The free shipping said 10 to 14 days. Almost as good as getting the cabinet saw 2 years ago!!!! Thanks for your comments and insight. Jim.

edit: Forgot I put Ryder up as my new avatar.