bpevans

Hi,

I'm going to buy a TV from BestBuy and need to know the best choice thats within about $150-$200 of $2000US. Which product & why? I have a friend in the business and have to purchase from BestBuy to get the deal.... Ideally looking for a 16:9 HD projection set for everyday use (tv,gamecube,dvd)

http://www.bestbuy.com

thanks, bp

0ne

If you mean employee discount at Best Buy, i would go with this one, we get it just under $2000

Toshiba 50" 16:9 HDTV-ready
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=24&scat=1470

The Pioneer 53 is the BEST tv Best buy sells. Sells new for ~3499.99, employees can get it ( last time i checked for $2200)


If not getting a discount, i would go with this one + screen protector.

Panasonic 47" 16:9 HDTV-ready
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=24&scat=1470

If you want the biggest 16:9 HDTV for that price go with this one

Sharp 55" HDTV
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=24&scat=1470

surprisingly looks good on regular TV and great on DVD's

bpevans

Tempting. But I'm looking for a TV around the 1400-1600 mark after discount which I think means one in the 1800-2200 retail range. Which is better the 55" Sharp or the 47" Panasonic?

-Barry

Jeraden

I haven't heard anything about the sharp, but the Panasonic has gotten fairly bad reviews. "You get what you pay for" comes to mind. The fact that the Sharp is 55" for such a low price tends to make me think the picture quality isn't going to be all that great.

bpevans

I heard the panasonic cuts off peoples heads when it trys to stretch 1.85:1 formats... What other complaints are their? How do you rate the Samsung 16:9 47"

0ne

reviews on panasonic at AR are above average ~4.0 out of 5http://audioreview.com/pscTelevisions/HDTV-Digital,TVs/Panasonic,PT,47WX49/PRD_127375_2727crx.aspx

looks good in my show room

Sharp has a 3.75 but only on 4 reviews and 1 guy gave it straight 1's

the samsung 47 is a great value, but it sits side by side w/ the panasonic in my show room and doesnt look as good on most DVD's however, the 55" version of the tv ( 47 isnt listed) is doing great on AR 4.35(http://audioreview.com/pscTelevision...0_2727crx.aspx)





-1

ps
Also since you are going to be using the discount please keep in mind that you will have to purchase the service plan on the tv ( about 130 for employees pretty good deal, ) because if you dont Bestbuy wont sell it to you (and if somehow you do BB will fire your friend), its a shitty thing to do, but I guess if they are going to sell things to their employees at cost they have to recoup some of the money.

bpevans

Looked today at best buy and feel that the samsung looked really good, nearly as good as the 42" Toshiba. The Panasonic TV kinda sucked on how it cut off image pieces & stuff... I'm pretty much down to either one of these 16:9 HD rptv's

Toshiba 42"
Samsung 47"
Toshiba 50" (can't they just make a 46-47? ;-)

Yet to be seen: The 55" Sharp which they were sold out of.
I'm going to try the other BB to see if they have one...

Then I've got to fit it in an apartment for 6 months....


-BP

vwbeetlvr

the sharp is discontinued. And please don't post employee costs on things like this, you can get fired JUST for that!

odisn

My roommate got the Samsung about a month ago, after looking at the Toshiba and Panasonic. I think it looks pretty amazing for both DVDs and regular TV. I just wish he wasn't moving out next month! Now I may have to look for a deal myself, because I cannot imagine going back to a "regular" TV.

bpevans

Does the samsung do side by side PIP?

0ne

You Cannot be fired for posting employee prices its a matter of public record, all someone has to do to buy something at cost is have a vendor tax ID, employee cost is going to be that +5%(on most things)

stevevt

You can be fired for almost any reason (or no reason at all).

I'd encourage anyone that is thinking of taking "You can't be fired for X" or "You can be fired for X" advice from the Internet to do some outside research on the matter.

-stevevt

SpaceBoy

I bought the 47" Panasonic about 2 months ago at BestBuy for around 1900 onsale, and they even threw in the 3 year service package for free valued at 300+.(Try to haggle to get it)

I did quite a bit of research and only read good things about the tv, and must say I'm more than happy. I previously had a 32 Sony Wega, and I honestly don't see that much picture difference, def had to play with the settings on it to get it looking good. The other I noticed was a 42" Toshiba ws I believe, which they don't keep on hand (only the 45" I believe) but can order for you for around what you're looking to spend.

Check out this site, it's a site dediecated to the 47" Panasonic, with pictures, config settings, as well as a good discussion board, and newletter you can get. Hope that helps.

Panasonic 47" WebSite

jpcamb

Had my panny since November and I'm happy with it, there are a number of zoom modes and the cut off your seeing is probably due to that, it took only a week or so to get used to the stretch mode for regular TV and I hardly ever notice the differnece now.

SpaceBoy

.I couldn't agree more. At first I could def tell the difference of watching regular tv and having it stretched, but after a few weeks couldn't tell a difference and when I go between my tv in my bedroom 4X3 and the one in the living room 16X9 cannot notice much of a difference at all. I am more than pleased with the 47" panny and happy to have gotten a WS picture finally.

The Panasonic offers 4 viewing modes, ZOOM, JUST, FULL and STANDARD I belive.

Zoom of course if used with dvds of a format of 185 or so will cut off the heads, and in the event it doesnt' generally reduces the picture quality considerably.

JUST and FULL are almost the same to me, to be honest don't know the difference, however FULL appears better to my eye, so I generally go with that. That will put it wide, and depdning on the ratio will make the picture fit flush with the top and bottom, else have bars, but not nearly to the extent of a stardard 4X3.

The last which I think is called STANDARD or something presents it in a 4X3 mode and puts grayish bars on the sides to accomplish the feat. Very ugly, and very useless

Carnivore

See my comments about the Sharp in this thread.

X

Hey! I can be fired just for being me!