[quote name='jskatt21']Ok so now to ask the next obvious question, which is better Plasma or LCD, and also what is a good response time.[/quote]
Plasma has 2 main advantages. The first is much more vibrant colors and much better color accuracy. The second is viewing angles. Generally speaking an LCD will lose fidelity the more extreme the angle. If you plan on all the viewers sitting directly in front of it then its not an issue. The one negative to Plasmas is they suck power, but so do LCDs when you get to larger sizes. Quality depends entirely on the brand rather than the set type. And dont forget about looking into what type of anti-glare coatings they have if you plan on using it in a room that gets a lot of light. Response times vary totally on what the manufacturer decides to report so i wouldnt totally trust a spec. 99% of the time its GTG (grey to grey). BTW (black to white) is much higher and usually not mentioned. I've always found that name brands tend to be more honest in their reponse time specs so keep that in mind. The biggest benefit to a name brand is quality. A poorly built TV can crap out mere years after purchase. There is no question i'd take a name brand TV with an 8ms-10ms response time over some generic thing touting a 2ms response time. The spec has basically become a bit of a joke though so in my opinion i'd ignore it completely.
With plasmas you dont have to worry about response times.
[quote name='muhsheesuh']Plasma is better but some may have problems with burn ins. Response time differs by brand I think but 8ms is standard and anything under that is considered good (at least for Samsungs which is what I have)[/quote]
I havent heard of Plasmas having Burn in issues for a couple years now. All modern ones should have some form of protection from it, but generally speaking its not the recommended type if you're going to use it as a monitor and plan on being lazy and leaving it on displaying a static image. Personally though i think the image quality advantage that Plasmas have over LCDs far outway this.
[quote name='hec204']Actually its 32 inches, you won't see a big difference, but I would definitely go for 1080p just to stay safe for the next few years[/quote]
Just to correct you, you wont see any difference at that small of a set. None. But go for 1080p anyway to "stay safe"? Is Sony going to come to your home and mug you for not using "true HD"? Your statement makes no sense. Theres absolutely
no advantage to using 1080p over 720p when you cant tell a difference. The general rule of thumb is that no worthwhile advantage is noticed until you get to sets 50" and greater.
[quote name='jskatt21']Here is a Westinghouse at Best Buy for $749.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8386285&type=product&id=1181831586462
Is this a good tv? And what is a good response time to get? This one is 8ms.[/quote]
Westinghouse = bad. I believe thats who Best Buy outsources their instore brand [Dynex i think] to as well. Personally i'd stick with Panasonic, Samsung, Sony etc... You should have no problem finding a 42" or smaller for $900 or less. If its any help to you as well you can get 10% off coupons for BB on ebay all the time which work on TVs $400+. Just check for exclusions since i think Samsungs are often opted out of the Coupons.
