so who knows stuff about lcds, plasmas, and so on?
 

hey guys i plan on buying a 42' tv soon (somewhere around 42) i just gotta wait untill i have the funds... im looking to spend around 1200 bucks and have found some pretty good deals but right now sams club is selling a 42' widescreen 786p for 800 bucks. seems likea good deal to me but idk how big the "p" makes a diff. the 1080p are alot more expensive and are they worth it?

if someoene knows what there talking about and wants to tell me what to look for thatd be awsome!
thanks!

if you have a source of full HD movies get full HD TV. it is worth it. low quality stuff looks better on lower resolution displays

i just got a 1080p samsung in 40", its great with hd , or blueray movies

i would say get the 1080p if at all possible, i saw a 40" samsung @ sams for like 1190, it is one of the better ones there imo

just remember, right now 1080 is the best now, what will it be in 5 years, i bought the 1080 because i hope this t.v. will stay working for 6-8 years and wont be to far behind the tech.

im going to be getting a ps3 for the blue ray and for a couple games... so that will be my HD dvd plater.. but right now i have a 360 and i wouldnt mind an hd tv for it.

either of these worth the money?
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...=5&item=387616
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...=5&item=367891

keep in mind id rather spend the extra couple hundred on a tv that is way better.

i dont buy cheap stuff because in the end you always upgrade.

and ya i was hoping this tv lasts at least 5 years or till im out of college (around 5 years)

those have very similar specs, the contrast ratio on mine is 15000:1

the first one you linked has the most out of those 2


i am sure you would be very happy with either

kk well i just dont wanna buy it and be upset with it you know?

id much rather spend the money and be happy then spend a little less and wish i woulda spent more.

if i go the 786p would i be able to tell any difference if it was next to a 1080p?

Little info I found online.

Unless you are into video editing, or extreme graphic computer use, 1080p does hardly anything at all except hit you in the pocket book! It took years of pressure for broadcasters to finally produce 1080i or 720p and there are NO plans to pump out 1080p on cable, satellite, or broadcast. There is ONE DVD format that puts out a 1080p signal and that is Blu Ray. Blu Ray, is a great DVD technology and the picture quality is awesome, however it's no better than 1080i or 720p in my opinion. I base this opinion on some pretty thorough testing. Recently, our staff reviewed a 65" Panasonic 1080p plasma, a 52" Sharp 1080p LCD and a Sony 46" 1080p LCD TV. We viewed several movies via the Sony Blu Ray player which conveniently has a resolution toggle button on the remote control. In order to perform a fair test of 1080i vs. 1080p we sent participants out of the room after having shown them the DVDs with both resolutions several times. Then we called them back in with one of the resolutions displaying and asked them whether it was the 1080p or 1080i signal. We repeated this process 10 times and, guess what? They had no clue and could not differentiate at all between the two. This feedback came from a team who knows TVs. In fact they seemed to favor the 1080i signal slightly (60/40). It's incredibly difficult to see the difference even in a side by side test.

ok so is 1080i equivalent to those 768ps or w/e?

whats the diff between 1080i/p and 768p?

i think im just going to go for something that is nice AND a good price. for instance the 900 dollar one at sams club. that way i will have a cuople hundred extra for a nice warranty and save up for a ps3.

can the one i linked on sams club play blue ray?

are all lcds hi def?

Not, a clue!:lol:

I am in the same boat as you, found that little tidbit on-line and saved it for reference so that when I go to get my next TV, I could re-read that and at least make a little more of an informed decision.

We've got a 42" 768P Panasonic plasma, a 56" 720P Samsung DLP and a 60" 1080P Sony SXRD. The only reasons we moved the 56" 720P DLP upstairs in favor of the SXRD was that we have a PS3 and our DLP was already over 4 years old and we're tech geeks. For the average person, especially never having HD content before, 720P is more than adequate. I would suggest, however, that you concentrate on buying a better 720P set rather than scrimping to buy a 1080P. I seriously wouldn't recommend either of the sets you linked to in your earlier post.

If you'd really like to read up on the subject before dropping a load of cash on one, check out the forums over at avsforum.com It is absolutely one of the best places online to gather information about anything for home audio/video.

Oh and go look at the sets in person. You've got to have a decent HT store somewhere in your town to be able to take a good look at these things. I would never recommend buying a set based off of someone elses recommendation alone. Let your own eyes be the judge.

ok so if u don't think either of those r good can u explain y or link me to some good ones?

Dunno man, I just like seeing clean colors and sharp edges. I bought me the Philips 1080P 42" LCD. Picks up all the local HD channels with 2 year old rabbit ears antenna. I got a PC connected to it as well, and what's the internet HD TV stuff. Loaded about 1.5Terabytes of movies that are good enough to watch. DVD's actually look sharper watching it through the PC as well. Heck google earth is fun now. And the tv was only 1300 bucks including 3 hdmi cables, 2 opticals, 1 component and 2 RCA's. It was at Costco.

I did notice that Vizio gets returned alot at costco. That might tell you something.

Actually I'm typing this, using the 42" as my computer monitor in my living room.

I'm bet looking at Vizio TV's

Few reviews:

Best value, 50-inch plasma HDTV.Nearly every reviewer we found cites Vizio plasma TVs as absolutely the best value, and the Vizio P50 gets especially good reviews for its accurate color, good black levels, picture detail and features. Though all experts say the Vizio P50 can't equal the superior performance of a Pioneer or Panasonic plasma TV, the Vizio P50 is an excellent budget pick for those who don't need the best possible picture quality. Experts say the picture will likely need some adjustment out of the box. Critics add that this plasma television actually outperforms many higher-rated TVs in displaying standard-definition TV signals.

Budget 42-inch plasma HDTV.According to reviews, the Vizio VP42 plasma HDTV has a rare combination of low price and good performance. While it won't beat the best in a head-to-head image-quality competition, reviews say the black levels and color rendition are good. The Vizio VP42 also has good connectivity and is easy to use. Other features include a versatile PIP/POP function. One downside is that this HDTV is harder to find than others.

hey dez, didnt know u were on here, i am mutantmaxx from trcz. welcome to the best forum ever!

Dez is everywhere, I'm like a virus!:gasp:

Thanks for the welcome!

Personally, things I would look for would definitely look for would be at least 1, preferably 2 HDMI ports, 1080p, LCD ALL THE WAY, and a wide array of inputs and outputs. I just got a Sharp 52" Aquos LCD and it looks AMAZING. Definitely don't get cheap. If you have $1200 to spend on a TV, definitely spend it all. I have a 32" Soyo in my room as my TV, computer monitor, etc. and have my Xbox 360 hooked up to it and it looks good as well, but its no Aquos. My grandpaw has a Vizio 37" and seems to like it, but I personally wouldn't get one.

so if you guys could............

link me to some nice ones?

if i HAVEEEE to spend 1500 i can.

i will just have to wait.

but then again... if i HAVE to spend 1500 maybe id buy a laptop. or a ps3 and just wait till im older for a lcd screen.

idk.

Sounds crazy but check out your local Sears store for good prices. My dad just bought a 37"Panasonic 1080p for about 500. From my understanding 720p is just as good as 1080i. The p stands for progressive and the i for interlaced. For the average user to tell the difference you would have to be inches away from the screen. Not worth the extra 300 to get 1080p when cable/ satellite does not support it yet. imo the amount of DVI inputs would be a priority. You'll need 1 for general tv, 1 for your ps3 or 360. plus it's always nice to have one for any future add-ons. Bassically it's like everyone said, if you can't tell a difference then you're wasting money buying something extra that you don't see. If you plan on getting local channels with an antenna then make sure your tv has a built in hd tuner. It's usually a couple hundred more for the same model but then you do not have to buy anything else later.

http://www.avsforum.com

Seriously, go there and read up. In each section (ie., LCD displays, Plasma displays, etc) there is also a thread on "hot deals".

Yes, you will get confused, but that is because there are so many choices available. And sorry Squee, but saying blankly that one format is better than the other is short sighted, and uninformed. I have a great plasma (Pioneer Elite) that I'd put up against any LCD. But I am not one to say that plasma's are better than lcd's. It all depends on the TV, the environment, and what you are going to watch. One thing to remember with both styles - unless you spend big bucks, your standard def broadcasts are NOT going to look as good as they do on your tube TV. The more expensive tv's will have much better processors/scalers that help with this. Also, remember that when watching standard def content, you screen size gets really small. So for example, a 42" widescreen when showing standard def, is about equivelent to a 27-32" tube TV in size.

You also want HDMI 1.3 connectivity for future expansion. For those that argue that 1.2 is adequate, sure it is right now, but most new audio codes cant be transferred unprocessed over 1.2. This is most important when setting up your home theater.


For 1500 you can get a Panasonic plasma, they tend to get good reviews. It should be 1080i, and maybe you can get a sale for a 1080p. Most reviews on the Vizio line are that they are adequate sets. But you get what you pay for in that price range - or maybe its more like you "dont get what you didn't pay for!!!"

As far as which level you want to get, if you are one to "invest in the future", then get a 1080p. Otherwise, 1080i is your best choice. Most cable and sattelite HD programming is in either 720p or 1080i. HD-DVD and BlueRay (PS3!!) are the only content right now with 1080p.