TV shopping,

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CRX-YEM

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So my wife and I were thinking of TV shopping and possibly a Blue-ray player. Ideally a 42-47" 1080p, I'd like something that is capable of streaming Netflix. So if the TV does it on it's own then I don't need a BR player. I'd like to keep the total price close to $1000-1350.
Since I haven't shopped around for a TV in almost 8yrs what are the preferred brands these days?? I hear good things about Vizio, and Sharp, LG etc... but I'm not educated enough on all the new specs HDMI etc..

So any help would be great.
 
HDMI 1.3a and higher support full 1080p. pretty much everything has this now.


i use my samsung blue ray player to stream netflix. works pretty good.
i would HIGHLY suggest that if you don't want to run cat5 in yoru house that you just get a normal tv, and get a wireless netowrk blue ray player. takes about 15-20 secs to buffer, and then its straight through with no hiccups for me. unless, of course, your tv is near your router.


samsung or lg is my opnion.
 
agreed, Samsung or LG.. LG being the cheaper choice.. but i do hear good things about Vizio these days
 
Amazon.com: VIZIO SV472XVT 47-Inch Class XVT Series TRULED 240Hz sps LED LCD VIZIO Internet Apps HDTV: Electronics

VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA) let you easily connect to the Internet and stream movies and TV shows, listen to music and get the latest news, sports and weather. VIA comes with Amazon Video on Demand, Flickr, Netflix, Rhapsody, Twitter, VUDU and Yahoo TV Widgets pre-loaded on the TV, ready to launch onscreen at the touch of a single button on the remote. You can continually discover and download more apps from other content and service providers by browsing our gallery of apps that is dynamically updated right on your VIZIO HDTV
 
My sony 46" lasted 2 years before the panel started going bad. Their customer service basically told me tough luck.

When I asked the service tech what brands he recommends he said anything except LG. I think as a general rule you can get a little more for your $ with the Vizio's, and I am fairly certain they're still the only one made in the US.
 
I like what I see and hear of Vizio, if/when I buy another tv it will probably be a vizio, unless they go to shit or something.
 
Running Cat5 is not an issue and I also have a wireless g router in the house as well. Thanks for the response time to start education myself and reading reviews etc....
 
agreed, Samsung or LG.. LG being the cheaper choice.. but i do hear good things about Vizio these days

I know this isn't in the same size range as what he's looking for but when I got my 26" for my room it came down to between LG and Samsung. Samsung was slightly cheaper, but they were out of that model so I got the LG for a little extra. At least here I found the LGs to be slightly more expensive for the same size/type/HD.

I've had my 42" plasma Panasonic for two years without a single problem... thus far.
 
I'm in the same boat, we're going to be replacing my 56" Sammy DLP in the living room (wifey wants to mount above the fireplace to free up some space). Been looking hard at the Sammy and Sharp LED tv's and just waiting for them to break the 2k mark (Samsung - 55" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LED-LCD HDTV - UN55B6000).

I'm a huge Sammy fan, but also own a Panny Viera series plasma which has been great as well. My opinion is to go to the B&M's and find the tv that best suites your eyes and budget.
 
just spent a bunch of time looking at tvs and such myself.

theres always the plasma vs lcd debate. as of now, i feel lcds has caught up in plasmas in terms of performance and plasmas have caught up in terms of resolution. but plasmas do have the best bang for buck as of current.

for lcd brands/lines id look into Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony, Toshiba Regza and Sharp Aquos. Out of all those, LG tend to use IPS panels throughout their line. The only qualm I had with LG was almost all their TVs had lag input for older game systems like PS2 on analog mode, probably due to them using IPS panels.

for plamsas, there is Samsung and Panasonic. Id go with Panasonic because they bought Pioneer's plasma division and they make top tier shit. Samsung is good too but from the a/v forums the lower models tend to buzz a little.

but as bob villa mentioned, the best way is to have a set price point, read the reviews and then go to the stores and see which ones you like; everyone is different.

oh yeah, a couple tips, when looking at the tvs make sure the tvs you are comparing are using the same source! ive read stories where stores feed the cheaper but better tv with analog and the crappy more expensive tv with hd source, so of course hd is going to look better than analog. and play with their settings. that why you can get a better evaluation of the tvs.

anyway, i ended up getting Samsung for myself because it came out to $320 for a 32" and it was the best budget tv i saw.
 
friends parents have a 40" vizio LCD 240hz
beautiful picture
nicely made tv
i guess the only question remaining is how long will it last?
 
LCD = LG or Samsung. I bought a 55LH40 in November. Love it- the screen is great, but you do have some audio lag on the HDMI inputs that can be fixed with a flash update (that you can't do yourself). The higher models like the LH85 have all the internet goodies added in. I didn't want them because I'll have a HTPC hooked up to every TV.

Plasma = Panasonic. Plasma still has the best blacks.

DLP = ? They're not marketing them as much these days for some odd reason. If there were more selection I probably would have bought one over an LCD, but the IPS screen on the LG was just too good at $1115.
 
I got wife write off on a panasonic 42" G10 (TC-P42G10). The only reason i have not to buy a plasma is glare, even with anti-glare coatings, glare is still an issue.

So if you have a door or window that shines right on the TV area, a plasma may not be right for you, but if you have a dedicated family room with curtains i see no reason to go with anything else.

The 42" G10 can be had for under 1,000 bucks and its the only tv (that wasnt a CRT) my wife has ever said she didn't have any issues with. And for someone that is not forgiving at all when it comes to spending a lot of money on something, that should REALLY say something.

Here's how I did it too. I let her look around and get really upset at all the TVs with bad quality picture. Then I had a sales dude plug in an external player over hdmi and let her see that quality on the model i wanted (which is definitely better than anything else on the floor since all floor models are hooked up via coax except for a select few), and poof, insta-wife approval.
 
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