What TV would you buy for around $400-$600

dsheinem

dsheinem

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I am looking to get a second HDTV, and there are a lot of TVs in this price range. Something in the 40" range would be ideal (37"-44"). I will be hooking it up to a PS3 and HD Satellite receiver, the room gets some minimal glare from windows, and something with decent sound would be nice as I don't plan to hook up surround in this room (at least not initially - I may get one of those sound bars though). From what I've read, 1080p vs 720p doesn't make a big difference until you are closer to 50" (as the case with my other TV), so I am not currently worrying about that too much - is that the right place to start?

Have any of you recently done some comparison shopping? Thoughts?
 
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I've done hours of research on this subject and what you're going to want is an lcd tv from one of these 3 manufacturers. LG, Panasonic, or Sharp. You can find 40 inch models by all three of these brands under $600. I'm not sure what electronics dept. store is near you but Best Buy carries all 3 of these brands.
 
[quote name='Greater Malison']I've done hours of research on this subject and what you're going to want is an lcd tv from one of these 3 manufacturers. LG, Panasonic, or Sharp. You can find 40 inch models by all three of these brands under $600. I'm not sure what electronics dept. store is near you but Best Buy carries all 3 of these brands.[/QUOTE]

That's helpful - my initial impulse would have been Samsung or Sony, or even Toshiba. I have basically any east coast big box store you can imagine near me...

any particular mode/brand/line I should be on the look out for?
 
Just stick with those 3 brands I listed if you want a dedicated gaming tv. When you find a model that you are interested in, type it in to amazon and see if it has any reviews or go over to the AVS forums and search for it there. You will get lots of info regarding ur specific model. For instance:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panason...HDTV/9783676.p?id=1218174062064&skuId=9783676

This TV is highly rated by users at Best Buy & also on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-...LCQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306013353&sr=8-1

Its currently on sale at Best Buy for $599 which seems like a pretty good deal but then I found this even though it is not available at Wal-Mart you might be able to get a retailer to price match this or take $50 off

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Panasonic-TC-L42U22/14100710
 
Yeah I would say Samsung, Toshiba, or Sony. All tvs have flaws but generally these rise to the top. Definitely peek around AVS.

Good luck
 
I dont mind 720p AS LONG as it's a plasma. It'll save you money and it still as good as 1080p. Plasmas have the highest picture quality in the market and they are a bit cheaper than LCD's. The downside is they require more attention to avoid issues such as burn in or fading. I dont mind taking care of mine, since I love mine too much =)

I would recommend to you the LG 42PJ350. It's a plasma, with a two year warranty on the main board or TV, I cant remember. But it is good and awesome. It even has a feature to wash the colors on the screen so the pixels dont get damaged. A ton of features in regards of color.
I can't stand LCD quality. It's just not as good as plasma. Ask anyone good with electronics.

Hope I helped.
 
i have a 40' westinghouse 1080P hdtv with built-in dvd player with a 3 year WT with target for sale
 
For the price range, I would stick with LCD like the first person who replied to the OP stated. Plasma may look a little better, but it does not seem to last as long.

If you are going to spend your money on something you expect to last a while, go with proven LCD technology. Get a Panasonic or an LG. I have had the best experiences with those. And FYI I have never had an issue with a Panasonic LCD. I currently have a 32" and a 40" Panasonic (I think its a 42" actually) (both LCD). Have had the 32" for 5 years and the 40" for 3. My neighbor had a 50" plasma that just burned out on him after only 4 years! Sucks to be him!

I also have 3 LCD monitors in my car. Have had them for over 5 years with no issue. I may upgrade my living-room TV to a LED, but who knows. My LCDs are going strong and looking great. :D Compared to the 50" projection TV I used to have though, anything is an improvement! :p
 
thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I may do some serious hunting this memorial day weekend. Now if only I could find the right TV on sale...
 
[quote name='RedRingOfDeath']For the price range, I would stick with LCD like the first person who replied to the OP stated. Plasma may look a little better, but it does not seem to last as long.

If you are going to spend your money on something you expect to last a while, go with proven LCD technology. Get a Panasonic or an LG. I have had the best experiences with those. And FYI I have never had an issue with a Panasonic LCD. I currently have a 32" and a 40" Panasonic (I think its a 42" actually) (both LCD). Have had the 32" for 5 years and the 40" for 3. My neighbor had a 50" plasma that just burned out on him after only 4 years! Sucks to be him!

I also have 3 LCD monitors in my car. Have had them for over 5 years with no issue. I may upgrade my living-room TV to a LED, but who knows. My LCDs are going strong and looking great. :D Compared to the 50" projection TV I used to have though, anything is an improvement! :p[/QUOTE]

Just curious...but, how/where/what are you basing that statement off of? Just your friends' TV? Because I (and four others friends) all have Panasonic Plasmas. A couple of them are 4+ years old, and absolutely none of them have any problems whatsoever.

Plasmas are the better looking TV's, and more often than not, cheaper than a comparable LCD/LED in the same range. I wouldn't exclude them in any TV search for the OP.
 
I'm part of the plasma-all-the-way camp, but I will concede that it might be necessary to get an LCD if you'll be watching it in a room that gets a lot of daylight (that you can't or won't be able to shut out), as LCDs can be brighter.
 
I know it's a little late, but avoid Toshiba tvs. I love my model from 3-4 years ago, but they stopped making good sets after that for whatever reason.
 
For future advice, I recommend people look at clearance for last years model TVs. For instance, I recently got a 40" Sony 1080p (40EX400 model) for $290 at Target. I know various other people have been able to get such deals as well. When it comes to TVs, unless you want top-of-the-line, go with last year's model on clearance. You'll get better specs and probably a larger screen size for the same price (or, in my case, much less) than a newer model that is an offbrand.
 
[quote name='rusty']For future advice, I recommend people look at clearance for last years model TVs. For instance, I recently got a 40" Sony 1080p (40EX400 model) for $290 at Target. I know various other people have been able to get such deals as well. When it comes to TVs, unless you want top-of-the-line, go with last year's model on clearance. You'll get better specs and probably a larger screen size for the same price (or, in my case, much less) than a newer model that is an offbrand.[/QUOTE]

I debated this, but didn't want to end up with a floor model that already had plenty of hours on it...did you find then NIB for that cheap?!
 
[quote name='dsheinem']I debated this, but didn't want to end up with a floor model that already had plenty of hours on it...did you find then NIB for that cheap?![/QUOTE]

Mine was technically a floor model, but I saw the TV a few days before NIB for double the price. They were in the middle of remodeling the electronics dept, and none of the TVs were actually on when I purchased it. So putting 2 and 2 together, I think mine was either brand new OUT of box, or it had at most 2-3 days of use.

So I think mine is fairly brand new. I got lucky...
 
[quote name='rusty']Mine was technically a floor model, but I saw the TV a few days before NIB for double the price. They were in the middle of remodeling the electronics dept, and none of the TVs were actually on when I purchased it. So putting 2 and 2 together, I think mine was either brand new OUT of box, or it had at most 2-3 days of use.

So I think mine is fairly brand new. I got lucky...[/QUOTE]

If you cared much (and it may not be worth the time) you could prolly enter the service menu to see just how long its been used.
 
Not sure if you're near a Target or what they're clearance prices are atm, but you could check there. TV's tend to be slow on clearance, but they often tend to get to pretty decent values. We sold a 55" Samsung 1080p yesterday that was on clearance for I believe 550 or something around that area.
 
My target has just recently been clearancing a lot of TV of course ymmv/or even if they aren't picked over.
I was looking at cell phones and I overheard a guy get a 1500 dollar display tv that was clearanced for 1000 for 700 because the remote was missing.
 
I'd imagine you're just looking for a flat-panel LCD/LED or something, but from your description this might be the TV for you:

Sony KD-34XBR960

It's pretty much the best HD CRT ever made and surround-quality sound built-in.
It does 480i/480p/720p/1080i, has one HDMI input, 2 component inputs, and several S-Video/composite inputs too. PS3 games look incredible on it and even Wii games look amazing!
Retro consoles look absolutely perfect on this TV too.
Granted it's big and heavy (~200lbs), but if you do any classic gaming this thing is the holy grail.

I got one for myself last fall for $400 (via eBay) and it is simply the greatest TV I have ever owned.

Here's a review/more info if you're interested:

http://reviews.cnet.com/direct-view-tvs-crt/sony-kd-34xbr960/1707-6481_7-30787600.html
 
If your gonna pick up a HD for mainly gaming, you don't want to game on a plasma trust me. I picked up my sony 40 bravia in february for $580 (on amazon), has all the HDMI inputs and components I wanted. Further more it had multiple modes such as gaming, music, general and even more.

You may want to check amazon for some deals. LG's also have the lowest response time in LCD's when compared to other brands
 
I'd actually recommend a plasma for gaming because you won't have any ghosting issues like you would with a LCD.

Also, in my opinion the colors look more natural on a plasma than a LCD.

Some pros for LCD are that they are slightly thinner and lighter and they consume less energy. But overall I think plasmas have a heck of a lot more bang for your buck and look nicer.

Of course you are going to get all sorts of opinions from everyone, I say you should go into a store and tweak around with the settings (stores usually crank up the contrast and brightness to attract customers).

From my experience:

LCD - Samsung
Plasma - Panasonic.
 
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