HDTV purchase advice needed
 

I am thinking about purchasing my first HDTV and hope to get some advice. I have read the similar thread on here today, but wanted to be greedy and get advice for my needs.

Primary purpose: watching TV (standard def & HD) and DVDs (regular & Blu Ray). I watch a lot of sports so those looking good is very important.
Secondary: gaming

Components to attach:

• HD DVR
• PS3
• Wii
• Standard DVD player

I'm looking 46" +. Seating around 6 ft. Should be able to control lighting pretty well. I'd like to keep it in the $2,000 ballpark.

I have a bias towards Samsung, but am open to any major brands I guess. Mainly want to hear thoughts on what technology (LCD, plasma, DLP) would be best for my needs. i.e. what's better for watching sports - 120Hz LCD or plasma?

Sharp makes the best HDTVs. They have been making great TVs for a long time. My Aunt has a 13" Sharp CRT TV and the picture is very clear. You can't compare it with a HDTV, but it's better than the 13" Philips CRT TV/VCR combo I used to have in the old computer room.

The house I live in isn't very big and not very wheelchair accessible so I currently live in the front room (living room) and use a couch that turns into a bed. I got the Sharp Aquos 32" 1080p LCD HDTV (LC32D64U) http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...0099085&catid= and the PQ is amazing. HD is fantastic and any type of media you throw at it looks great.

You're looking for a bigger TV so this might be a good choice: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1186004962867 that's within your budget. If you're looking for 120Hz than you will have to spend more than $2,000. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1202649422379

I would suggest getting a Surround Sound as well. If you want the HTIB it is pretty cheap. Don't buy one with a DVD player in it, though. Just get it with a receiver that can support the audio. You could build your own, but that's a little more expensive.

You should sell that Standard DVD player or make an upgrade to a upconverting DVD player. Actually, your PS3 upconverts so you really can just put that DVD player in a room that doesn't have one yet.

Pioneer.

Whatever size TV you decide upon, go slightly bigger.

Panasonic

i purchased the 52" version of the sony w4100 series (here is a link to sony's page for the 46" version which retails for ~1900-2000). the picture is fabulous and looks great while playing on all current gen. gaming systems, watching sports, and viewing movies. check out the thread on this series at AVS forum.

After only a year and a half, my Toshiba Plasma developed flashing red pixels. I had purchased the Best Buy replacement plan when i bought it, so I was approved for a replacement.

After some research, I decided to go LCD this time since it's hard for me to tell much difference. I got the Samsung LN52A650 Touch of Color LCD. I saw it in the store and thought it looked great. I researched it online (along with several others) and found it had almost uniformly rave reviews. The only thing some people tended not to like was it's reddish frame, but I think it looks great.

I've had the set in my home for about a week and couldn't be more pleased. 120 htz is good for gaming and sports. The auto-motion plus is something I'm still getting used to, but if i continues to bother me there is an option to turn it off.

There are smaller versions of this tv available. I recommend it highly. You can get it on Amazon for $1999.99 after a $200 mail in rebate.

Hyperbole, thy name is nateman.

Sharp makes decent HDTVs, but far from the best.

My choice would be a Panasonic plasma --- Pioneer if I could afford it, but I can't. LCD would be my second choice, either Sony or Samsung.

I think the best value out there right now is with the 50" Panasonic 720p model (TH-50PX80U). You can get it at some brick and mortar locations for around $1,200-$1,300, and probably less online.

No, it isn't a 1080p model, but the difference between that and 720p is often quite overstated, and at that screen size wouldn't be terribly noticeable unless you sit like a foot from the screen anyway.

The new Samsung LCD's (series 6) someone above mentioned are supposed to be really nice, but I personally don't think it's $700 better, if any, and I prefer Plasma to LCD.

Thanks for the response everyone. I did a bunch of research online and ended up getting the Samsung PN50A550 (50" plasma). I'm running some of the suggested plasma break-in things now. I did take a sneak peak at some HD channels and the picture looked really good and that's without trying to get the optimal picture settings yet.

I hope that is a joke and not an insult. I guess I overstated it. I probably should have said that make some of the best LCD HDTVs. I read in a thread awhile ago that I think Sharp, Samsung and Sony have the best LCD manufacturing. I might have that wrong, but I thought those were the three brands that made the best LCDs.

A Pioneer plasma HDTV has great picture, but yeah they are expensive.

Is that the replacement for the W3000 series? My mom got the 46" W3000 last year and I like it well-enough.

The 120hz on the w4100 mode is what gives the picture that hyper-realistic soap opera effect right? It's what I have seen Joe 6 Pack drooling over at Fry's on certain Sony TV models? I don't want to ever see that effect again.

Anyway i am looking at TVs a little. Want something bigger than my Sony 34" Tube.

I swear by my Pioneer KURO.
The image quality is fricking amazing.
IMO, they're totally worth the extra $