Hello Everyone!
We are looking for a 1080p HDTV for our new fire station. We have a viewing angle problem so we are thinking we will need to go with a Plasma. One other thing the TV could be on an average of 18 hours each day. Does anyone have any suggestions? Many thanks and have a super great week, please stay safe out there!!!

If viewing angle is a concern, plasma is the way to go for sure.
What's the budget and what will be watched on it?

If viewing angle is a concern, plasma is the way to go for sure.
What's the budget and what will be watched on it?

EAGLES, thank you so much for your reply. There are 32 members at our station, so each member has to pitch in for the TV, the county will not purchase us a TV. So of course we are trying to keep the price as low as possible. We are looking for a 1080p HDTV, 42"-55", that has a good viewing angle, because the way our kitchen area is set up and we have no experience in the area of HDTV, so we are lost here. Comcast cable, it's the only choice we have as far as a input source. Some years, in the future we may purchase a Blue Ray player. Once again, many thanks for your input and most of all, please stay safe out there!

Well if each member pitches in $50 (not too Bad) then your budget is about $1600. I'd probably go with the 54s1 panny.
Also are you able to do dish for HDTV instead of cable? Better price and HD channel selection. Just a thought.
I don't know if any of you guys game but if you are thinking BR player I'd buy the new $299 PS3.

Here are some options, any of which you guys would love:

50" - 1080p:(from ~$1k-$1,300)
Panasonic TC-P50S1
Samsung PN50B550
Samsung PN50B650
Panasonic TC-P50G10

For 42" I would advise 720p:(both ~$600)
Panasonic TC-P42x1
Samsung PN42B450
........the 42" 1080p options would be the 42" versions of the 50" displays above.

**Panasonic makes the S1 and the more expensive G10 in 42", 46", 50" 54" and 58".

EAGLES, thank you so much for your reply. There are 32 members at our station, so each member has to pitch in for the TV, the county will not purchase us a TV. So of course we are trying to keep the price as low as possible. We are looking for a 1080p HDTV, 42"-55", that has a good viewing angle, because the way our kitchen area is set up and we have no experience in the area of HDTV, so we are lost here. Comcast cable, it's the only choice we have as far as a input source. Some years, in the future we may purchase a Blue Ray player. Once again, many thanks for your input and most of all, please stay safe out there!If you guys aren't looking for a lower priced TV and aren't concerned about having the absolute best picture quality, check into the Panasonic 50" or 54 "S1 series (which has the excellent brighter and blacker NeoPDP panel), or the lesser 50" or 54" S14 series (non-NeoPDP) at Costco and Sams Club. The S1 looks a lot better and is only a little more money than the S14 so i'd just punt and get the S1. The 54S1 would come out to about $60 per person :D

Any Panasonic. Just make sure to do the whitewash function on it on a regular basis to keep the phosphors even and prevent burn-in.

Any Panasonic. Just make sure to do the whitewash function on it on a regular basis to keep the phosphors even and prevent burn-in.There's no need. The whitewash function only operates for 15 minutes before automatically shutting off so it's fairly useless, and besides, the Panasonics haven't had a problem with burn-in for at least five years now. There are virtually no reports of a Panasonic being burned in on this forum in the past several years now.

I didn't realize it ran so short. Maybe breaking slides instead. I just meant that burn-in/IR aren't normally a problem, but since it'd going to be left on for extended periods they may want to take some precautions in case (typical viewing habits may be less intensive and more varied than for an "always on" type of set).

We bought a 47" proscan from Costco for our station. It works great and all the guys really like it. If you need to move it around you can always put it on an swivel.

E-A-G-L-E-S, Nicktx27, RandyWalters, dlplover, thank you so very much for the advise, please keep them coming, you guys are educating us firefighters on the HDTVs that are out there. Thanks so much, I'll be printing these out and taking them to work on Tuesday. The stores we have in our area are>
Best Buy
Big Screen Store
Costco
Sams Club
Sears
Target
Walmart
Do, any of you, have any good or bad experiences with any of these stores, is one better than the other?
Once again, please stay safe out there. Once again, MANY THANKS!!!

They are all local stores....so use price matching.
I would choose Sears or costco depending on best value.
*Keep in mind that the units sold at sams club and costco are usually store specific displays that sometimes are great deals and sometimes they are great deals because they are inferior.
Whereas with Sears and BB you get the standard displays with no alterations.

If you guys scratch in $75 (that's far less than a fairly good dinner out for 2) each then a very decent 58" is well within reach.

And I think you would appreciate the size.

Much respect to all the fire fighters out there. Get a 58S1 which you may be able to find for about $1700-1800 which comes to at worst $56 per person.

I recommend the Samsung PN50B550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VSCH74?ie=UTF8&tag=shopguid0b-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001VSCH74)..Picture quality is amazing.