$1500 HD Plasma/DLP/LCD TV's... Comments, thoughts, suggestions...

[jAZ]

I've been looking for a new HD TV... I've got a $1500 budget and I want at least 42" screen.

I'm a complete neophyte on these things and I only know what I've been able to pick up in the last few days...

I've learned that with any projection screen (LCD, DLP, etc), I'll need to replace the bulbs in 3-4 years. Also, I guess they have side angle problems to some degree. But they are cheaper than the straight flat-panel like plasma and LCD.

I'm grateful for any thoughts in general. I'll be posting a few deals/models I've come across online or in the store. Any comments on those deals is welcome too.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by jAZ

So last week it was shopping around online. Yesterday I visited Circuit City, Best Buy and Sam's Club. That's when I settled on either the Akai above or the Samsung DLP 46" also above.

Today I stopped in at CostCo and I might have added a new front runner.

It turns out that CostCo's return policy is unbelivable. They have an unlimited (time) 100% satisfaction guarantee return policy. If anything breaks (1 year, 5 years, 10 years) they will take the product back (with receipt) and credit you the original purchase price.

That gives me a lot more confidence in a lower price Plasma, knowing if it burns out, dies, looks weird or whatever, I can just bring it back.

So while I was there I found the Vizio 42" Plasma that's $1499. It's pretty decent and the online comments have been good-to-great. The image quality was fanstistic in the store. Noticibly better than the Samsung DLP which they also had.

I'm poking around now to make sure this is the best thing for me, but at this point its looking pretty good to me.

I spoke of the Costco return policy in a previous post, and it's the real deal (as I've used it). I returned a plasma 5 months after purchase with the receipt, and they took it back no questions asked.

As for the TV.....I purchased the 50" Vizio from Costco when I returned the 42" Maxent. The 50" Vizio received very good professional reviews, and the AVS forum also had very good things to say. I've got it hanging on my wall at home and it's amazing. Blacks are very good....watching a movie like Batman Begins, which is very dark, and it performed very well. The 50" is going for the ridiculous price of $1969 right now, so if you can up your budget a little, I'd highly recommend it. This same TV was $2600 only 4 months ago. It's also got 2 HDMI inputs, which is very helpful.

[jAZ]

So I got the Vizio 42 yesterday and set it up last night. The picture is great and in fact I was able to pick up the NBA game in HD on ABC. I was able to flip between the regular broadcast and the HD Broadcast and it's pretty amazing the difference. I've never understood the difference, but I could get sick of SD pretty quickly as I get spoiled with HD.

I have to say that I'm not yet very happy with the sound quality. When I had it going through the TV's speakers it was very shill and piercing. I went in and turned the bass up and the treble down and it was better... but it still sounds sort of hollow.

I then configured up my JVC tuner as the audio (using the analog out audio ports on the back) and it sounded slightly better, but still pretty crappy.

I suspect that there is some opitmal configuration that I'm missing. Maybe if I can, I'll post the in/out ports on my defices and see if anyone has any feed back as to the best confuguration.

[jAZ]

Originally Posted by KevB

It's also got 2 HDMI inputs, which is very helpful.

The 42 that I got only has 1 which isn't great, but it came with component inputs, which was what they were using at CostCo and it looked good. My issue with HDMI/Vizio is that I hooked up the new HD up-convert DVD player I bought using the HDMI port, and I'm able to get the video to work, but it doesn't have any sound. If I plug in the optical cable into the tuner, then I get both, but I thought the HDMI was supposed to carry both audio and video signals. I'm not sure why it's not working.

Any thoughts?

[Vegas_Dave]

Originally Posted by jAZ

The 42 that I got only has 1 which isn't great, but it came with component inputs, which was what they were using at CostCo and it looked good. My issue with HDMI/Vizio is that I hooked up the new HD up-convert DVD player I bought using the HDMI port, and I'm able to get the video to work, but it doesn't have any sound. If I plug in the optical cable into the tuner, then I get both, but I thought the HDMI was supposed to carry both audio and video signals. I'm not sure why it's not working.

Any thoughts?

HDMI carries both video and audio in true Digital format. However, not all HDMI units will work 100% with each other. For instance, my HDMI from my cable box to my TV carries both signals and my TV will give me both video and audio off of the cable... however, it will not give me Dolby Digital sound and instead gives me a 2 channel PCM audio.

If you are having to use the optical cable, so what. If it works then great.

You may want to play around with settings on the DVD player. It may not be setup to send audio on HDMI. Also, make sure that you set your DVD player to output in Progressive mode and NOT Interlace.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by jAZ

The 42 that I got only has 1 which isn't great, but it came with component inputs, which was what they were using at CostCo and it looked good. My issue with HDMI/Vizio is that I hooked up the new HD up-convert DVD player I bought using the HDMI port, and I'm able to get the video to work, but it doesn't have any sound. If I plug in the optical cable into the tuner, then I get both, but I thought the HDMI was supposed to carry both audio and video signals. I'm not sure why it's not working.

Any thoughts?

I believe this speaks to the "handshake issue" that you'll read a lot about on the AVS Forums. Vegas Dave pretty much explains it just below.

As for the sound.....keep in mind that 90% (?) of the people that buy big screen plasmas do so with the intent of never using the TV's speakers as the audio source. Everyone has a surround setup of some sort. Having said that, I would think the sound would be about as good as a typical CRT.

Congrats on the purchase. One tip: be sure to stretch out your screen so you don't have bars on the sides. Burn in is a very real threat, especially the first 100 or so hours.

[Vegas_Dave]

Originally Posted by KevB

I believe this speaks to the "handshake issue" that you'll read a lot about on the AVS Forums. Vegas Dave pretty much explains it just below.

As for the sound.....keep in mind that 90% (?) of the people that buy big screen plasmas do so with the intent of never using the TV's speakers as the audio source. Everyone has a surround setup of some sort. Having said that, I would think the sound would be about as good as a typical CRT.

Congrats on the purchase. One tip: be sure to stretch out your screen so you don't have bars on the sides. Burn in is a very real threat, especially the first 100 or so hours.

Burn In Depends on the TV. According to Samsung, there is no Burn In risk whatsoever on DLP. This is in their own owners manual that comes with the TV.

I personally am buying a new home right now (wont be done for 6 - 8 months) that I am having the flush mounted surround sound system built in. I cant wait to get that hooked up with my TV at which time I will fork over the $500 for the HD-DVD player as well.

[Calcountry]

Originally Posted by Miles

Excellent advice. What looks best to you is what is most important.

Trust him, he learned the hardway.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by Vegas_Dave

Burn In Depends on the TV. According to Samsung, there is no Burn In risk whatsoever on DLP. This is in their own owners manual that comes with the TV.

I personally am buying a new home right now (wont be done for 6 - 8 months) that I am having the flush mounted surround sound system built in. I cant wait to get that hooked up with my TV at which time I will fork over the $500 for the HD-DVD player as well.

He bought a plasma, which definitely has burn in risk (trust me on this, I learned the hard way)

To the OP, just be sure to keep your picture stretched with no static images on the screen for long periods of time (for example, CNN scroll at the bottom). Risk lessens after the first 100 or so hours of use.

LCD and DLP don't have burn in risk. One of their advantages over plasma.

[Miles]

This article has a pretty good summary of the burn in issue. Its not that big of a deal but as KevB said you may want to be careful when it is new.

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/p...tv-burnin.html