As the title says, the wife and I plan on fixing up our bedroom around Aug-Sept. and I need to start looking for a new tv. Right now we have an old 32" Sony XBR crt that weighs about 200lbs and takes up about 7 sq. ft. of room. We have a small bedroom, maybe 12'x14' so we don't need anything gigantic. I see that Panasonic makes a 37" plasma and that is probably around the right size. I know LCD's will be smaller and cheaper, and we have 3 small ones in other rooms, but I have always secretly pined for a plasma.

As far as a budget, my high-end would be $1500, since this is mostly casual viewing there isn't a need for a super nice set. At the same time though, I don't want to buy junk just to save a few dollars. The Sony it will replace has lasted 7 years now, and she's still going strong but I need those 7 sq. ft.

We'll be using the tv for everyday viewing, no games, no movies since we have a nice theater. I'll be hooking it to Directv's HR21, or whatever is comparable come Aug.

Since I won't be using a separate stereo for the first time (need to streamline) the speakers on the tv will be surprisingly important. This is maybe the most difficult part to evaluate, I live in the middle of nowhere.

Any recommendations are welcome, but I'm limited to shopping at either Wal-mart (ugh!) or Crutchfield.com (they deliver out here).

Thanks for any and all help, I'll check back soon!

I would suggest the 42 inch 720p panasonic set. They can be had for roughly 60% of your budget.

Panasonic TH-42PX80U?

This is the one I was looking at the closest. Does anyone know how the speakers are? God I hate thinking about tv speakers. Maybe I can convince the wife that a 20lb receiver is a necessity.

Panasonic TH-42PX80U?

This is the one I was looking at the closest. Does anyone know how the speakers are? God I hate thinking about tv speakers. Maybe I can convince the wife that a 20lb receiver is a necessity.The speakers on that will be decent...and by that I mean they will be fine for normal tv watching but if you want a home theater effect you will have to go the separate reciever/speakers route. Of course this applies to just about every tv out there regardless of price..

A little while back I bought a 42PX600 for the Master. Hung it on the wall and love it. Gives me the ability to hook up a laptop with the VGA cable, and two tuners for POP, etc. High def looks great, and speakers are very good. No, you cannot compare them to having a separate speaker system, but for regular viewing incl high def. they are fine IMO. Our heads are about 15' from the TV, but I wish i had gotten a little bigger. I have a theater too, so not movies or games on this one for me either. Good luck

Really good to hear some impressions. I can't see anything nice in person so this will most likely be a "blind buy." My concern with the speakers stems from a cheaper LCD we put in the guest room, it's only a 15" tv so the speakers are on the small side, but it is far too quiet. I'm really looking forward to using 1 HDMI cable from the Directv box to the tv and 2 power cables. That will be one setup I get looking nice and neat.

My money would be on the Panny 50PX80, at your ~11ft viewing distance (or even 8ft for that matter) you will really appreciate the size. It has a $1700 MSRP, but you can easily find it within your price range. If you Bargain well enough, you'll be able to afford a wall-mount/HMDI cables from monoprice and still be within your price-range (just don't buy the wallmount from BB :p ), then you'll reclaim lots of space in your Bedroom.

-Coggs

As the title says, the wife and I plan on fixing up our bedroom around Aug-Sept. and I need to start looking for a new tv. Right now we have an old 32" Sony XBR crt that weighs about 200lbs and takes up about 7 sq. ft. of room. We have a small bedroom, maybe 12'x14' so we don't need anything gigantic. I see that Panasonic makes a 37" plasma and that is probably around the right size. I know LCD's will be smaller and cheaper, and we have 3 small ones in other rooms, but I have always secretly pined for a plasma.

As far as a budget, my high-end would be $1500, since this is mostly casual viewing there isn't a need for a super nice set. At the same time though, I don't want to buy junk just to save a few dollars. The Sony it will replace has lasted 7 years now, and she's still going strong but I need those 7 sq. ft.

We'll be using the tv for everyday viewing, no games, no movies since we have a nice theater. I'll be hooking it to Directv's HR21, or whatever is comparable come Aug.

Since I won't be using a separate stereo for the first time (need to streamline) the speakers on the tv will be surprisingly important. This is maybe the most difficult part to evaluate, I live in the middle of nowhere.

Any recommendations are welcome, but I'm limited to shopping at either Wal-mart (ugh!) or Crutchfield.com (they deliver out here).

Thanks for any and all help, I'll check back soon!

Actually Panasonic hasn't made a 37" plasma in a few years, the 37" model they have now is an LCD. The 42" models are their smallest plasmas, I don't think you will be disappointed in any of them. Speakers are okay on the current models, much better in the 800 series but that's quite a bit over your budget.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1027358