Price Per Inch - Are Plasmas Still Better?
 

I've been keeping my eye out for a good small (32"?) LCD tv, but it seems like the prices continue to hover and hover high - relatively to plasmas too.

For example, the first small lcd I'd consider buying and feeling confident in is ~$850. That's roughly $26/in.

By contrast, a 42" plasam is $33/in., which granted is more. However, once you compare that to larger lcds it's not.

40" lcds (good) are running at a minimum of $36/in.; and the larger 46" ones are $56/in.

My point is I feel like the smaller good make lcds are not as cheap as they should be. If they were around $600 I'd feel like I'm getting a bargain, but right now I feel like I'm paying too much for what I'd be getting whereas I could pay a little more and get a lot more for my money in a 42" plasma.

I don't think so anymore. You can get 42" LCDs for well under $1k now.

The gaps getting closer, but LCDs are still overpriced IMO. Especially for the newer ones that do blacks much better.

1st...just about all technologies are cheaper per square inch as you get bigger. Except for flat panel LCD. Largish LCD's are still new.

2nd. I would say "yes" to your question. Especially if you compare top brand to top brand. Say a Panasonic plasma v. say a Sony or Sharp LCD. Most of the LCD's that are in say the Panasonic's price range are the 2nd and 3rd tier manufacturers. Hey not knocking them. I have an Olivia in my bar and it works fine. But I also wouldn't put it in the same class as the Panasonic.

I think you'd have a more accurate comparison if you compared price/screen area, rather than price/diagonal length.

An inch of silver isn't worth as much as an inch of gold.

See, I know it's tricky since there are unit in certain categories that break barriers, say 1k, but as others have said it's difficult to really count because you're not comparing quality to quality. Like saying you can get a great deal on a Ford 4x4 instead of going with the Porsche Carerra 4S! ...wait, maybe that gap is too much. ;) Audi?

I lean a little bit more toward wanting more size over PQ within my budget personally, for the most part anyway.

I mean, assuming space, lighting etc are no issues and assuming the price is the same, I'd go for a 720p projector and a 100" inch screen over one of the new Pioneer 8G 1080p plasma's coming this fall that are supposed to have the best PQ thus far according to buzz at AVS and other places..

Or to make a more fair comparison, if my budget could only get one of these in 42" but could get a 50" or 58" from Panny which was said to have lesser PQ, I'd definitely go with the Panny.

:shrug:

Size and price are above PQ for me. So even if LCDs looked better, they don't get much consideration for me since they are much pricier for larger sets.

Wouldn't it be better comparing it to a Cayenne, Q7 or a Range Rover? :)