Looking for advice on a 42- to 46-inch LCD

lyric706

lyric706

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Hope I can get some help here.

I am in the market for a 42- to 46-inch LCD TV. Because of gift cards I have at Best Buy, I must purchase it there.

I see this one here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insigni...259169&skuId=9202374&st=insignia 42&cp=1&lp=2

Seems like a good deal, but I have read a few things about the delay in the image making it hard to play games. And sure enough, when I went to see this one at the store, I noticed a delay in its picture in relation to all the other TVs on the wall.

I really don't care about brand, although I would prefer not to get Samsung because of bad luck I had with a previous unit. I have a 32-inch Westinghouse now, and I actually have been very happy.

Looking for 42- to 46-inch, 1080p and 120Hz.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance.
 
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CAG, I just got done doing shit tons of research on LCD in the 42-46" range. A basic breakdown of what I found:

1. Samsungs are like the Cadillacs (if they are any good now) of LCD Tv's. Specially LEDs. If you can find a 46" for less than $1000, GET IT!.

2. LG's come second on the quality, better price than Samsungs, but still I could notice the difference, and I am no video guru.

3. The ranking for the rest of the models according to me is: in the following order Sony, Vizio, Toshiba, and Phillips. anything else is just crappy.

4. I did my research online as well as in B&M stores. By far, your best bet is Amazon, free shipping and no Tax saves you around $90 on a $1000 HDTV. Now I, like many others, am very afraid of buying something online without actually seeing it first, and as matter of research and self assurance I visited many stores: BB, Walmarts, Targets, HHGregs. Sometimes (if you are really lucky) you might find that they (B&M stores) have floor models, open items, or even clearance models for really good money, although a lot of the times TAXES (Hate them) will bring the price close to one new on Amazon.

5. Unfortunately, I can't give you much advice on the TV you chose, it's a 42" for $700. Doing a REALLY quick search on Amazon I found this Phillips for less money than the one on BB and is Tax/shipping free. http://www.amazon.com/Philips-42PFL...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1274659849&sr=1-5 which has better features than the Insignia.

6. My final word of advice, take your time, look at prices, compare features and specs. NEVER go for 60HZ. and contrast ratio is only differenciable if it is more than 50,000 more or less.

Happy HDTV hunt, I did my own and finally got this: Samsung 46" for $1,075. with 36 months NO INTEREST (if you qualify for Amazon Credit card). http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN46C...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1274660039&sr=1-4

PS: I just moved out from Tampa to Texas 2 weeks ago, I would have helped you do some of this research if I was still there.
 
[quote name='kendrick55993']I also will refer yo to go for Samsung 46" for $1,075. with 36 months no interest (if you qualify). http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN46C6...4660039&sr=1-4[/QUOTE]I missed this thread when it was first posted, but let me be the 3rd person to recommend this TV. This is very similar in terms of specs to the 46" Samsung I bought about a year and a half or two years ago. Like machtdh, I did a ridiculous amount of research before I bought, both online and in store. Like you, I made a thread on CAG asking for advice. I know you said you'd prefer not to get a Samsung because of a bad experience with the brand, but I have to tell you that to this day I still make my kids roll their eyes at me by gushing about how much I love this TV. Every time I watch a blu-ray on it or play a new game with great graphics, I'm blown away by how good it looks, and I'm so glad I went with the Samsung.
 
I've been on the hunt for a 42", but I've been leery about ordering from Amazon simply because it seems like it would be a lot of trouble to ship it back if something went wrong with it.
I was going to pull the trigger on this deal from walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/LG-32-and-55-1080p-120Hz-HDTV-LCD-520Series/14224004
but then they changed their financing special on their credit card from 12-month interest free to $20 cash back. :/
Anybody know how long it takes walmart to rotate their credit card specials?
 
Bro, I will advise to go with Amazon, their customer service is really good and shipping it back is not a hazzle at all, they will reimburse you the cost to ship it back, I just did it with an LG 47" LCD that they had on special, I switched it to a 46" Samsung, because right now they are running a 36 month NO interest on some of their models. And Samsung >> LG. Besides you gotta take NO TAX and Free shipping into consideration also.
 
Machtdh, can you point me to Amazon's dead pixel policy? I'm a bit hesistant to buy from an online retailer myself because of the whole what if something is wrong with the TV thing. I would think that so long as the box is in good shape, the TV should be (after all, TV's are boxed to be shipped to stores around the world).

As for that Samsung model, my friend has that TV and the only problems I noticed were some motion blur while watching her Gilmore Girls dvd. Someone would walk across the screen and leave a little ghost trail. She didn't do anything to calibrate her TV or change the settings at all after taking it out of the box, so I don't know if that was the cause or what. Games looked good on it and blu-rays played fine.

Personally, I think it's a good set. My boyfriend is anti edge lit LEDs like that set (I forget his reasoning). My top choices right now are:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0036WT3RU/ref=nosim/cheapassgam08-20
^Samsung LN46C650 (edge lit LED)
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Bravia-K...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1275768360&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GIPMNU/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=AHF4SYKP09WBH
^Sony Bravia 46XBR8 (back lit LED)
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BRAVIA-K...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1275768324&sr=1-1
^Sony Bravia 46XBR9 (normal LCD)
 
I would also highly recommend a Samsung brand TV. I bought one a few months ago and have been very pleased with it. It's a 42" and I've never had any problems with it to date. My only complaint is that I wish I would have gotten a Samsung with 120hz output instead of 60hz (which my TV has) due to occasional image blurring when I play games.
 
@ crazylikeafox, if there is anything wrong with the TV, Amazon will basically replace it. As for the first TV on your link, it is not an LED lit HDTV, it is a regular LCD (the one I purchased also). About your friend, I think she needs to have her tv calibrated, Gilmore Girls, isn't that like an old show, sometimes when they remake this old shows, specially if it is on a new blue ray, they have some issues with blurriness. But again, some calibration might fix it. Another thing, was her TV 60HZ or 120HZ. Cause there IS a difference between both of them. I noticed Amazon has taken the 36 months no Interest option. Now THAT was a great deal. Pay it like cash with less than $30 a month payments.
 
I'm actually in the market for a new HDTV as well, and before even coming on CAG to check out threads the one I was looking at was the Samsung everyone is recommending. Definitely validates my choice. :D
 
[quote name='machtdh']@ crazylikeafox, if there is anything wrong with the TV, Amazon will basically replace it. As for the first TV on your link, it is not an LED lit HDTV, it is a regular LCD (the one I purchased also). About your friend, I think she needs to have her tv calibrated, Gilmore Girls, isn't that like an old show, sometimes when they remake this old shows, specially if it is on a new blue ray, they have some issues with blurriness. But again, some calibration might fix it. Another thing, was her TV 60HZ or 120HZ. Cause there IS a difference between both of them. I noticed Amazon has taken the 36 months no Interest option. Now THAT was a great deal. Pay it like cash with less than $30 a month payments.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I got the LN vs UN models mixed up on those Samsung TVs(and thought the one you guys were talking about had an extra zero--I had just woken up and my brain wasn't wholly functioning). My friend has the edge lit LED one, the UN46C6300. Which is what I initially thought the one you guys were talking about was (didn't initially click on the link). I noticed my mistake later in the day before you posted.
 
[quote name='machtdh']@ crazylikeafox, if there is anything wrong with the TV, Amazon will basically replace it. As for the first TV on your link, it is not an LED lit HDTV, it is a regular LCD (the one I purchased also). About your friend, I think she needs to have her tv calibrated, Gilmore Girls, isn't that like an old show, sometimes when they remake this old shows, specially if it is on a new blue ray, they have some issues with blurriness. But again, some calibration might fix it. Another thing, was her TV 60HZ or 120HZ. Cause there IS a difference between both of them. I noticed Amazon has taken the 36 months no Interest option. Now THAT was a great deal. Pay it like cash with less than $30 a month payments.[/QUOTE]

UGH! So now I've missed out on Amazon's 36-month-no-interest as well?!?!
That pretty much just leaves Best Buy's 18-month-no-interest deal. Any one know how well Best Buy's extended warranty plan is as compared to Walmart or Amazon?
 
@Stark Best buy extended warrany plan is as good as any others, It is a lot more expensive than Amazon's and a little bit higher than Walmart's. I had my laptop and Desktop on their plan, and really... I think I wasted all that money away. Never had a problem or anything, besides most TVs come with a 1 year manufacturing warranty. I now believe that if it doesn't break in 1 whole year, it probably won't in the next one. It's all a matter of luck anyways right? ;)
FYI: Amazon has 24 Months no interest on a few Toshiba HDTVs. Toshibas are not that bad IMO. Just wanted to give you a heads-up.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.ht...d_t=101&pf_rd_p=1264509282&pf_rd_i=1261402011
 
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