Plasma or LCD?

[AD720]

Originally Posted by barbourjay

i use to use an oppo player to do all of my converting. thought it looked great till i bought my 50" pioneer. then i hooked up my blu-ray player and got a new denon that can handle the new HD codecs for sound. haven't looked or thought back since. regular dvd's even up converted look/sound way worse. i'll try to post pics of my setup at some point.

I've got an Oppo too, I got it last spring when I was still sort of waiting out the Blu-ray/HDDVD thing. I figured I might as well get a really good Dvd player while I still can.

It is a stellar player though.

[DBall]

I just (like Friday) bought one...

Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U

Holy crap is this thing incredible... and it was a black Friday special... $863 (total, with tax) for a 50". The only concession I had to make was that Shell would be able to buy a new bedspread. Sounds like a fair deal to me...



I haven't tried watching it in the daylight yet (as I heard plasma's suck for that), but this has some glare-proof screen... we'll see how that goes.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[icantbejon]

I bought the 42" version of this TV so it's good to know that you like it. Another review to let me know that I made a solid purchase.

[MikeyC]

A few months ago, I bought this TV:



It's a 50" plasma 1080 with a nice gloss black surround. The picture is really incredible and I've been very happy with it. I got plasma because the room I keep it in doesn't get huge amounts of sunlight and because I felt that even though LCD screens have improved plasma still has a higher quality picture especially when viewing action movies or sports.

The 3 years 0% interest financing Best Buy offered didn't hurt either!

[Rabidsquirrel]

Originally Posted by MikeyC

The 3 years 0% interest financing Best Buy offered didn't hurt either!

Watch out for that. I got a 6 months 0% interest deal when I bought my laptop. Even though I had payed the laptop off in 5 months, I was still charged interest.

I think you have to pay 5 minutes before they cut the bill or they charge you interest anyway.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by icantbejon

Panasonic DMP-BD35K BD-Live Blu-ray Disc Player is what I got my hands on. I hope to enjoy this as well.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ...y+Viewed+Items

The wife had to be told, cause she'll break it. She's not at all technologically inclined. She plugs things in and they blow up. Seriously, it's insane.

You got a damn good Blu-ray player. Seriously one of the better ones in that price tier. Congrats on that.



And as for the wife...

I'm beginning to see your logic on that one

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by SimonTemplar

So what kind of cabinets/stands are you guys using? If you have it wall mounted; did you set up an entertainment storage unit underneath? I just got a 50" Samsung plasma for the family's Christmas, and I'm looking at all options. I want to be able to hide all the movies and kids games. Pics would be great.

I'm thinking about using a vintage credenza. Fits our decorating. Something like this:

Just consider the fact that a 50" Plasma is gonna weigh about 200 lbs, so make sure the table is rated to carry that much weight

Never and I mean never, put one on top of a glass table. So consider that as well.

[DBall]

Originally Posted by JE3146

Just consider the fact that a 50" Plasma is gonna weigh about 200 lbs...

Mine weighs <80lbs... a lot of them that I saw were pretty light (considering what and how big they are).

Originally Posted by JE3146

Just consider the fact that a 50" Plasma is gonna weigh about 200 lbs, so make sure the table is rated to carry that much weight

Never and I mean never, put one on top of a glass table. So consider that as well.

Thank you. Sorry for the off topic post!

Weight is still a concern; even though the specs say it only weighs 82lbs. with the stand. Just curios as to how many of you are hanging yours -vs- setting them on a stand. I have this nightmarish thought of it crashing down off the wall.

Just got confirm' that the TV is in! Now to get this cabinet done(decided to build one out of poplar and do a zebrawood veneer); and get it hooked up! Hope it's easy!!

Originally Posted by SimonTemplar

Thank you. Sorry for the off topic post!

Weight is still a concern; even though the specs say it only weighs 82lbs. with the stand. Just curios as to how many of you are hanging yours -vs- setting them on a stand. I have this nightmarish thought of it crashing down off the wall.

Just got confirm' that the TV is in! Now to get this cabinet done(decided to build one out of poplar and do a zebrawood veneer); and get it hooked up! Hope it's easy!!

my 50inch is hung on the wall. no problems holding my entire 200lb body weight. it screwed into the studs with 6 by half inch screws in multiple places. never had a concern with it falling off ever.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by DBall

Mine weighs <80lbs... a lot of them that I saw were pretty light (considering what and how big they are).

No kidding?

My 42" weighs like 100 lbs and the 50" I was looking at was like at around 175ish.

200 lbs was exaggerating I guess, but that seems odd that they don't weigh as much as they did a couple years back. Mine is built like a slab of concrete in the back. The heatsinks must be made of lead

[fxpose]

We have a 40" LCD hanging in our kitchen.

[TonySmith]

This is a great and timely thread. I'm interested in moving up to a bigger tv.
It appears the longevity issue has been put to rest. One thing that has been mentioned is the heat dissapation of a plasma, would be alright in the winter but not so good in the summer. Any input on this would be appreciated.
Thanks for the input

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by TonySmith

This is a great and timely thread. I'm interested in moving up to a bigger tv.
It appears the longevity issue has been put to rest. One thing that has been mentioned is the heat dissapation of a plasma, would be alright in the winter but not so good in the summer. Any input on this would be appreciated.
Thanks for the input

If you have central air, then don't even worry about heat output at all.

In the hottest months of summer... (this is in Oregon though )... where we have no AC... the most I have to do is keep a fan going, but I need that regardless of the TV or not as it's so hot out.


In the winter though, it seems to help heat the place nicely. Personally I think adding a few extra people to the room for movie night puts more heat in the room than the TV, but that's me.

[mosesbotbol]

Plasma for overall picture, but bang for the buck go for LCD.

Originally Posted by TonySmith

This is a great and timely thread. I'm interested in moving up to a bigger tv.
It appears the longevity issue has been put to rest. One thing that has been mentioned is the heat dissapation of a plasma, would be alright in the winter but not so good in the summer. Any input on this would be appreciated.
Thanks for the input

i'm in FL and summers are hotter than balls. never had any problems with the heat.

Originally Posted by icantbejon

So I ended up changing my stance on the whole issue. I went with a 42" Samsung 1080p Plasma. It had great reviews and the price was right during all these crazy Black Friday deals. I also ended up getting a BluRay DVD player. I was gonna get the PS3, as it's BluRay, but I just don't play games so I saw no need to spend the extra $100. I have my wife picking it up tomorrow, as I still can't. I told her after she picks up the box, it should be the last time she touches the TV until I get home.

You should actually buy the PS3 because you can not only have a game to play but it also plays the HI DEF movies,,you get 2 birds with one stone. From what I read the BluRay will go the way of the LaserDisc in another year but PS3 will be around a bit longer.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by Cigary

You should actually buy the PS3 because you can not only have a game to play but it also plays the HI DEF movies,,you get 2 birds with one stone. From what I read the BluRay will go the way of the LaserDisc in another year but PS3 will be around a bit longer.

I believe the number was like 2 million blu-ray discs sold in the month of October this year alone.

A year ago, it was barely 400,000 in the same month.

The Dark Knight is going to be the first movie to ship over 1 million discs.

Player prices are constantly hitting the sub 200$ mark and Blu-ray sales were clearly evident EVERYWHERE this black friday.

Blu-ray isn't going anywhere.... as much as people love to think.

[jjirons69]

Originally Posted by icantbejon

Panasonic DMP-BD35K BD-Live Blu-ray Disc Player is what I got my hands on.

+1 for the Blu-Ray. The best non-PS3 player.

Try cnet for all your questions. I love this site. Great job with TV reviews, too.

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-blu-ray-players/