I'm sure that with the many BF deals on LCDs/Plasmas, there are quite a few new owners today. Thus, I'm sure I'm not the only one curious about wall mounting my new plasma and the best way to go about this.

I've seen some wall mount in the sub $100 price and am curious if there is a recommended brand/style that I should look in to or if most mounts typically work the same?

I have bought two recently (taking one back). First and foremost you want to make sure the mount will hold the size and weight of the TV you got. Also you need to decide how much movement if any your need. This will effect the cost and looks of the mount. A fixed low profile mount will hug the wall and cost much less then a articulating, pan & tilt mount that will not sit as flush to the wall. In the middle of the two is a tilting mount that only goes a little up or down, sits fairly close to the wall and cost in between the others.

As far as I could see, all new flat panels comply with mounting bracket standards. But there are a couple of sizes so double check what will work with your set.

Excellent answer. I'll just add that I wouldn't expect something under $100 to be a good choice for a large TV, say 40"+ or any plasma. (plasma is heavier) Maybe a straight flush mount would dip that low on a good sale or as a package deal, but the adjustable types are hundreds of dollars. And most will start at $80 for smaller TVs, lower on sale, perhaps.

Depending on your size of TV, you want to carefully investigate if you have stud where you want to mount the TV.

I ran into this tonight. I bought a little 27" LCD flat panel to put in my bar. The first mount I bought panned and tilted. But I soon realized if the TV is sitting that close to the wall you won't get much movement as the tv will hit the wall. So I went back and got one with a short 6" or so arm so I can pull away from the wall then pan/tilt.

BB has all their mounts on sale (at least they did yesterday). But when I went back today they only had really big heavy articulating arm mounts for Plasma's. So I ended up picking up one from Walmart. (the pan/tilt one was $50, the one with arm was $80 - but remember these are for TV's up to 30" and weight less then 50lbs).

Anyway, back to the stud issue: I do not have one where I want to put the mount and it is wood "siding" so can't use drywall anchors or anything. So I'm going to add a cross beam painted to match the rest of my trim. Will have to make a Home Depot run tomorrow.

Crap...NO CHEAP MOUNTS!!!

No I didn't lose the TV, but I had to take everything down. What a freaking pain in the $SS!!!

I finished all the trim work around where my LCD was going to go. I carefully measured exactly where to put the mount and found a stud. I had screwed in the heavy screws for the mount to the stud (which is not easy with the dinky allen wrench they give you. Carefully attached the plate the back of the TV and muscled up the ladder while hold the TV, got it on the mount and.....

the ball socket for titling is not strong enough to hold the TV straight. No matter how hard I tightened the ball socket (even using a pair of pliers for extra grip) it would not keep the tv from tilting!!!!

The entire mount is rated "up to 30lbs". Now my TV is 30.8 lbs WITH base. I took the base off and it weight nearly 2 lbs. So I figured I was fine. Guess not!

Man I'm pissed! Those were like 2" long heavy screws and a pain to put in and out. Guess I'll go see what I can find that is a little more heavy duty. I hate to spend over a $100 for a mount for a $400 TV, but guess I just might. I need something with swing/tilt as this is going up high in my bar over the sink.

Instead of a cross beam, cut a piece of 1" plywood a little bigger than the tv dimensions and paint it the wall color. Screw that into the studs for support and then you can put the mount anywhere on the plywood.

You can even trim out the plywood a little with molding to make it look fancy, but not really needed.

This sounds similar to what I did with my new LCD. I took a 2X4 and secured it to the ceiling with lag bolts, then secured the mount to this board. It doesn't look at good as it would if I could have just went in to the ceiling, but it's a *lot* stronger.

Damm, I think I just bought the most complicated mount known to man! I picked up a Vantage Point Articulating flat panel wall mount, there are a ton of parts to the thing. This one is rated at a 100lbs, so that should take care of the weight issue. It has a large swing arm, so I should be able to go directly into a stud and still have the tv "centered".

I've read thru the insustructions twice now and it is just stupid. Even tho it is pretty complicated, it is like Ikea structions, just pic's. Luckily there is is a little animated movie at their web site that should help.

If/when I get the SOB up, I'll post a pic. This has been a pain the A$$!

I picked up the peerless sf660 from an amazon seller for $60. Unbeatable price, its the flatmount one, It's my 2nd one, and I think they are great.

It easily supports my 42" Panny, and will support my new 37" on as well.
It's a simple install if you have a stud finder..

Pic's FINALLY. Yea, went a little overboard on the mount, but it works well.

this is mine!