Recommend a multi-use 42" HDTV
 

To my surprise my wife wants a new tv for the family room. We have a separate theater room for high end stuff, so it doen't need to be of the high-end nature. She wants a tv that is EASY to use as a computer montor, hd cable, blu-ray, and show pics. The perfect size for the room would be 42". I don't want to go bigger. The room is a bright room, so I was thinking LCD. What I don't know is what would be easy, and of decent quallity for pc connection.

Thanks

Panasonic 42" plasma.

The LG 42LG30. Under $1000 at BB, and very decent TV for that price.

Only if he goes 1080p. He wants to use it as a computer monitor.

Assuming he would, if he wants the highest resolution possible.....

Yeah, deffinately 1080p. But how do you feel about pc/plasma vs pc/lcd?

My guess is it will get a lot of pc use. If I was being selfish I'd go plasma as I think the picture is better.

Panasonic 42" Plasma, 720P - $699 at Costco when I was last in there. $899 for 1080P version.

I have a 1080P 42" Panasonic Plasma, and I have to say -- I'd save the $200 and get the 720P version at that killer price.

-beebs

shouldnt use 720p for a computer monitor

Why not? I have an HTPC with 720P output and it looks awesome. I didn't know about the rule, either did my Panasonic Plasma or my eyes. Do tell!

-beebs

no rule. i said shouldnt, not couldnt. :)

do you do much surfing, etc on your 720p set? if you are just using it for a PVR/DVDs/Movies, its no big deal. But if you are really using it as a computer monitor you want better resolution than that.

Actually I like 720P, especially for web surfing, torrent gathering, etc. from my 6' seating distance. Sure, the screen real estate in terms of pixels is smaller than 1080P. For me, and you may be different or have a different set-up/vision, it's much easier to read text and navigate stuff at this lower resolution. And, that's at 6' with this 42" screen. I can do 1080P and have rolled back to 720P. At this point, I only have 1080i or 720p content on the HTPC (HD PVR, OTA, and QAM HD), so no need to switch resolution for the HTPC content.

I can see why one would prefer 1080P, though. Really gives you more real estate to work with. New Firefox does much better scaling hard to read websites -- as it scales most graphics now. Still, there's stuff that doesn't scale well and is hard to read for me at 1080P. Guess I'm getting old. :)

-beebs

I think I'm going to get a Samsung LN40A650. It looks like it does everything I need it to do. Too bad it isn't 42", but 40" isn't that big of a difference. Thanks for your thoughts.

Are you going to use the TV's built-in sound or hook it up to some kind of sound system? If you're using the built-in sound, I'd stay away from the Samsung. I have a LN40A550, and am very happy with it, but I wouldn't be if I had to rely on the onboard sound.

That's a good point. I'm not doing a sound system in the room. My second choice is the Panasonic TH-42PZ85U - I can actually get this set for $995 total. Anyone know how the sound fares on that set?

A friend of mine has the 42" Panasonic. I just asked him about the sound, and he says it works fine for his bedroom. I wouldn't same the same about the Samsung at all.

You might want to go to a store and check out the sound quality on the various sets. I know from reading the Samsung thread at AVS that while most people generally complain about the sound, some can live with it. To me, it's not merely bad, it's unlistenable.

Mighty nice of you steve. Thanks.

I pulled the trigger on the Panasonic. I'll give you my review when it's set up.

My pc is set up in an adjacent room. I'll be running DVI to HDMI adapter to HDMI cable to new tv through a floor, then up through the cable outlet. Do any of you know of an HDMI cable where the fitting can be attached after snaking the cable through drilled holes? I'm sure my wife would appreciate it.